College Football Keeps Begging For And Receiving Ugly NIL Lawsuits

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Georgia transfer QB Jaden Rashada filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday against Florida coach Billy Napier, former Florida football staffer Marcus Castro-Walker, and top Gator booster Hugh Hathcock over a failed name, image, and likeness deal that was set to pay the quarterback $13.85 million. Of all the lawsuits that have swamped college football in the NIL era, this one might be the most embarrassing for the sport.

The complaint, which can be read in full at the bottom of this post, alleges that Hathcock, with the assistance of Napier and Castro-Walker, knowingly committed fraud in inducing Rashada, who at the time was a highly sought after recruit who had already agreed to a $9.5 million NIL deal with the University of Miami, to commit to Florida. According to the suit, the three men representing Florida promised Rashada a $13.85 million NIL that they were never going to be able to pay.

The case stems from the recruitment of Rashada in the summer of 2022. Rashada had initially pledged to attend Miami after the school promised him $9.5 million in NIL money. The lawsuit claims that Hathcock, owner of Velocity Automotive, along with Florida employees nevertheless continued in their pursuit of the highly rated prospect. The lawsuit alleges that Hathcock and Castro-Walker offered him a $13.85 million deal, with $5.35 million and a $500,000 signing bonus coming from Velocity Automotive, and the rest coming from Gator Guard, the NIL collective that Hathcock started for the university. There was also a job for Rashada's father promised in the deal. These terms ultimately changed due to Hathcock's plans to sell Velocity Automotive. Instead, he and Castro-Walker proposed money coming directly from Hathcock himself, as well as Florida's other NIL collective, the Gator Collective. According to the lawsuit, the Gator Collective CEO Eddie Rojas played into this alleged fraud, texting Rashada empty promises about the deal. The deal was signed on Nov. 10, 2022 with a $500,000 payment scheduled to come on Dec. 5.
 

full article:  https://defector.com/college-football-keeps-begging-for-and-receiving-ugly-nil-lawsuits