Ex-FSU players sue coach over $250K NIL guarantee
Dec 30, 2024, 10:57 AM ET
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.– 6 former Florida State basketball players took legal action against Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton on Monday, declaring he stopped working to make good on a pledge to get each of them $250,000 in name, image and likeness compensation.The complainants– Darin
Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Webcam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley– submitted fit in Leon County circuit court, and their lawyer, Fort Lauderdale-based Darren Heitner, shared the 20-page complaint.The previous players allege Hamilton assured them the cash from his”business partners. “The claim states they went out of a practice last season over the missed payments and planned to boycott a Feb. 17 game against Duke. They wound up playing– the Seminoles lost– amid a warranty from Hamilton that they would be paid however they never ever were, according to the suit.No lawyer for Hamilton was noted in
the lawsuit. “We support Coach Hamilton’s right to protect himself against these accusations and eagerly anticipate an expeditious resolution of this matter,”the university said in a statement.The university’s declaration also stated a query into the allegations is continuous however”at this
point we know of no unfulfilled dedications by FSU in terms of scholarships or other appropriate benefits or the Rising Spear Collective relative to NIL payments owed to the athletes.”FSU hosts Syracuse on Saturday.The grievance includes several text-message exchanges in between players and some in between players and Hamilton.FSU ended up 17-16 last season, including 10-10 in the Atlantic
Coast Conference. The 76-year-old Hamilton is in the final year of his contract. The Seminoles are 9-4, including 0-2 in league
play.None of the complainants in the claim stays with the team. Darin Green and Nickelberry tired their college eligibility last spring, and the 4 others transferred. Spears is now at UTSA, Fletcher is at Xavier, De’Ante
Green is at South Florida and Warley is redshirting at Gonzaga.The lawsuit is the current in a growing variety of NIL legal battles.Matthew Sluka, a starting quarterback for the UNLV football group, left the program after 3 games in September due to the fact that he said he was never ever paid on a $100,000 NIL deal. Previous Florida quarterback signee Jaden Rashada, now playing at Georgia, took legal action against Gators coach Billy Napier in 2015 over an alleged unsettled$13 million NIL offer. And numerous Tulsa players claim they were never paid thousands in NIL commitments made by former coach Kevin Wilson.The Associated Press contributed to this report.