Well, it’s getting real between quarterback Jaden Rashada, now formerly of the University of Florida, that university and coach Billy Napier.
Rashada initially committed to Florida, wound up at Arizona State and then entered the transfer portal, and plans to play this season at the University of Georgia.
You got all of that?
Then follow this.
Rashada is now suing Napier and the University of Florida, a suit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida, claiming he was bilked out of almost $14 million after he turned down offers from other programs to go there, then Florida backed out. This is believed to be the first known lawsuit over a name, image and likeness deal.
One of those other programs, Rashada alleges, was in-state rival Miami.
ESPN’s in-depth story by Paula Lavigne and Dan Murphy is here, and does a nice job with all the legal ins and outs: Jaden Rashada sues Billy Napier, Florida booster over NIL deal – ESPN.
Rashada signed with Florida as a senior in high school in December 2022, right after his father was promised, he alleges by Napier, that there would be a partial payment of $1 million. There was no $1 million payment that was allegedly supposed to come from Florida boosters.
ESPN’s story not only offers quotes from the lawsuit, but also this from Florida athletics spokesperson Steve McClain, from a text: “We do not comment on ongoing litigation, and neither the University Athletic Association nor the University are named in the complaint. The UAA will provide for Coach Napier’s personal counsel, and we will direct all questions to those representatives.”
As mentioned earlier, the suit alleges that when Rashada signed with Florida, he rejected an NIL deal at Miami worth $9.5 million.
