New Georgia transfer QB suing his former team and SEC rival over NIL contract
Former Arizona State quarterback and Florida commitment Jaden Rashada is suing Gators head coach Billy Napier and one of the program's top boosters, Hugh Hathcock, Velocity Automotive, and former Florida off-field staff member Marcus Castro-Walker, according to a report from John Talty of CBS Sports, amid the fallout of a collapsed NIL deal. The lawsuit does […]
Former Arizona State quarterback and Florida commitment Jaden Rashada is suing Gators head coach Billy Napier and one of the program's top boosters, Hugh Hathcock, Velocity Automotive, and former Florida off-field staff member Marcus Castro-Walker, according to a report from John Talty of CBS Sports, amid the fallout of a collapsed NIL deal.
The lawsuit does not name a specific dollar amount, but is based around an NIL agreement that would have paid Rashada $13.85 million when he signed with the Gators in December of 2022.
It accuses all the individuals Rashada is suing of "fraudulent misrepresentation and inducement, aiding and abetting fraud, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference with a business relationship or contract and aiding and abetting tortious interference."
The complaint, which was filed in the Pensacola Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, alleges the aforementioned individuals fraudulently induced Rashada to join the Gators, with no intention of actually making good on what they had promised financially.
"Hathcock (on behalf of himself and Velocity Automotive), Castro-Walker and Coach Napier orchestrated and executed a fraud upon Jaden and were substantially and knowingly assisted by one another in carrying out the fraud," the lawsuit states. "Each of their individual schemes would not have succeeded without assistance from one another."
What appear to be empty promises led to Rashada moving off of his verbal commitment to Miami, considering the Gators had offered him a larger dollar amount. Hathcock was set to pay roughly $5 million of that himself.
Rashada’s suit marks the first known lawsuit surrounding NIL deals in college athletics.
