NIL lawsuit could change college football recruiting
- Jaden Rashada was offered more than $13 million to play for Florida
- He's suing the University of Florida after the money never materialized
- The school could have violated rules for NIL scholarships
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(NewsNation) — A star college football player has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the University of Florida, though he never attended the school.
Jaden Rashada was named as one of the 30 best high school football players in the nation two years ago. A nearly $14 million name, image and likeness (NIL) scholarship that took him from California to Gainsville, Florida.
Ultimately, Rashada would go on to play for Arizona State before transferring to the University of Georgia.
But the money never materialized and he’s now suing.
Sports lawyer Dan Lust said there are certain conditions attached to NIL scholarships. Pay-to-play arrangements, paying a salary to play for a certain university, and schools becoming directly involved in negotiations are prohibited.
“This lawsuit is directly against the head football coach at the university, Billy Napier,” Lust said. “This is very much an allegation against Florida.”
At its heart, Lust said it’s a case about alleged fraud. Rashada is claiming the Florida boosters made a representation that he would be paid more than $13 million throughout his time as a Florida Gator. That convinced him to switch his commitment from the Miami Hurricanes to Florida.
If Rashada wins, it could change how universities deal with recruiting.
“I do think this will be a watershed moment for the space, you can’t just agree that I’ll get paid some large amount of money later when the contract may possibly be terminated,” Lust said.
