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Ex-Florida QB suing HC, booster over near-$14M NIL deal

Jaden Rashada. Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former top QB recruit suing Florida HC, booster over near-$14M NIL deal

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 5/21/24

Jaden Rashada’s college football career has had quite the tumultuous start.

The four-star recruit and seventh-ranked QB in the Class of 2023 originally committed to the University of Miami a year-and-a-half ago, but flipped his commitment to Florida that November after being promised a $13.85 million payday. Once that deal fell through, Rashada transferred to Arizona for a year before transferring to Georgia this offseason.

Now, the 20-year-old signal-caller is suing multiple UF-related individuals on the grounds of fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent inducement, aiding and abetting fraud, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, negligent misrepresentations, tortious interference, aiding and abetting tortious interference and vicarious liability, per On3.

Gators head coach Billy Napier, former UF director of NIL and player engagement Marcus Castro-Walker, UF booster Hugh Hathcock, and Hatchcock’s former company Velocity Automotive, which was supposed to fund his NIL deal, are all named defendants in the complaint, which alleges they duped Rashada in committing to Florida with no intention of paying him any of the agreed upon NIL funds.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was aware of Rashada’s intention to sue Florida and had zero issue with it, according to On3.

$13.85M is a crazy amount of money for a HS QB but if we have a contractual agreement to make that happen...nobody should be upset with Jaden Rashada in this situationhttps://t.co/5bX3as9PxQ pic.twitter.com/7ZlZXbEZC7
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) May 21, 2024

“We do not comment on ongoing litigation, and neither the University Athletic Association nor the University are named in the complaint,” Florida athletic department spokesman Steve McClain told On3. “The UAA will provide for Coach Napier’s personal counsel, and we will direct all questions to those representatives.”

It's been reported that Florida promised to give a $1M partial payment Rashada’s father once he signed his letter of intent, but the school never followed through. Rashada never saw any of the remaining multi-million dollars he was promised by UF boosters either.

“Sadly, unethical and illegal tactics like this are more and more commonplace in the Wild West that is today's college football landscape,” the lawsuit reads, via ESPN. “As the first scholar-athlete to take a stand against such egregious behavior by adults who should know better, Jaden seeks to hold Defendants accountable for their actions and to expose the unchecked abuse of power that they shamelessly wielded.”

Rashada saw action in just three games during his freshman season with the Sun Devils. He completed 44 of 82 passes for 485 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions in a reserve role.

He’s expected to compete with Ryan Puglisi, Gunner Stockton, Collin Drake and Sam Bush to back up 2023 starter Carson Beck this fall.

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