Former ASU quarterback Jaden Rashada is suing Florida Football coach Billy Napier, booster Hugh Hathcock and former team staffer Marcus Castro-Walker after he signed a four-year name, image and likeness (NIL) deal worth about $13.85 million before they allegedly terminated it less than a month after it was signed.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Rashada recently transferred to Georgia but before joining Arizona State last year, he was a four-star recruit out of high school and declined offers from other colleges as he signed his national letter of intent on Dec. 21, 2022 at Florida. The lawsuit claims that Napier promised Rashada’s father a “partial payment” of $1 million before the player signed.
This case was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida, and is regarded as one of the first of its kind where an active player is suing his coach or booster based on an NIL deal.
Because of his signing with Florida, the lawsuit alleges that Rashada had a prior verbal commitment at the University of Miami which he turned down. The deal at Miami had a supposed promise on the table worth $9.5 million.
According to ESPN, Castro-Walker, Florida’s former director of player engagement and NIL, sent text messages to Rashada’s NIL agents like, “You already know what we need to do over the next few days. Get us the QB” and “We need to lock down Jaden!”
Hathcock, a well-known donor for Florida Athletics, would have paid Rashada $5.35 million of the supposed $13.85 million, with a $500,000 signing bonus issued by Hathcock’s car dealership at the time, Velocity Automotive, and the rest from his NIL collective Gator Guard.
The filing went on to say that Hathcock then declined to use his company or Gator Guard for payments. He would work with Castro-Walker instead to issue the money through the Gator Collective, another NIL group.
Once planning on playing for Miami, Rashada would announce that he switched his mind and planned on going to Florida before he received a letter from the Gator Collective stating that they were”purporting to terminate” the $13.85 million NIL contract on Dec. 6, 2022, according to the lawsuit.
After the supposed backing out of this deal, Napier and Castro-Walker told Rashada that they would “make good” on their promise as Hathcock and Gator Guard would “personally guarantee” the $13.85 million sum.
With multiple warning signs flashing, Rashada’s agents informed him that they wanted him to not sign the national letter of intent. This allegedly sparked Napier to call Rashada and his father, promising the $1 million payment.
Rashada ultimately never played for Florida and spent last season at ASU.
Since this situation is ongoing, Burn City Sports will keep you informed on the latest updates.
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Alec Cipollini covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
