Last March, a rumor bubbled behind the scenes about a college basketball team that came close to boycotting a game. The gossip was about players nearly revolting against their coach because they hadn’t been paid NIL money they were guaranteed. I wondered if the story could ever be verified and come out.
On Monday, it did. The team was Florida State. The game in question was against Duke; The boycott was called off at the last minute and FSU lost 76-67. Now six former Seminoles (Cam’Ron Fletcher, Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears, Jalen Warley) are suing their old coach, Leonard Hamilton, for “unfulfilled promises,” per their attorney Darren Heitner, who has been a prominent advocate for player compensation rights for nearly a decade.
“My primary goal with this lawsuit is to obtain relief for several FSU basketball players who relied on promises from their Head Coach,” Heitner wrote on social media. “Additionally, I hope this action causes everyone in the #NIL space to think twice before taking advantage of athletes.”
It’s the latest — and loudest — instance of convex NIL legislation dispensing unintended consequences. Last year, Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada sued Florida coach Billy Napier over a NIL deal that didn’t pan out. In September, UNLV’s quarterback left the team after he claimed he was never paid what he was told he’d be paid. Right now there are plenty of players in college basketball and football who have been told they’ll make a certain amount in NIL, just waiting to hopefully/eventually be paid in full.
“It’s more common than people think, even at [power-conference] schools,” Mit Winter, a college athletics attorney, and former college basketball player at William & Mary, told CBS Sports.
Only some players wind up signing contracts, a critical step to avoiding what happened at FSU. In this case, none of six plaintiffs put pen to…
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