Sports attorney predicts Florida will settle lawsuit with Jaden Rashada

Former top recruit Jaden Rashada is suing the University of Florida and Gators head football coach Billy Napier, among others. It’s a lawsuit that will either permanently change the state of NIL as we know it has become, or at the very least it will expose the absurdity of having no governing body over the payment of players.

Rashada, a former four-star recruit in the 2023 class, is suing Florida, Napier, donor Hugh Hatchcock and former UF staffer Marcus Castro-Walker, claiming the group “defrauded” him out of millions in NIL money.

The center of the lawsuit is a four-year, $13.85M NIL deal that was supposed to come Rashada’s way when he flipped his commitment from Miami to Florida in November of 2022. The quarterback signed his letter of intent with Florida that December but never enrolled at the university because his arrival on campus was apparently contingent on this NIL deal, which was supposed to be brokered by Florida’s “Gator Collective” NIL.

Though this, at first, appears to be a squabble with the NIL collective, Rashada also argues that Napier himself had promised him $1M if he signed with the Gators. That would be a violation of NCAA recruiting rules because coaches and the institutions themselves aren’t supposed to get involved in the NIL payments — though we all know it happens.

The money involved plus the accusation against Napier and the Gators is a big deal that could come back to haunt Florida in the future. As such, sports attorney and New York Law School professor Dan Lust told On3 recently that he believes the Gators are likely to settle, even though it will certainly cost them millions.

“That allegation at the center of the complaint is the biggest lawsuit we’ve seen to date. It says the school, a direct employee of the school, was the one directing these efforts. This is a seismic lawsuit. At the time this occurred, nothing was allowing a coach to have this kind of involvement with the payment scheme,” Lust said. “If we’re playing the odds, most cases settle. Most cases don’t go to trial. I think there’s a real fear for Florida and those in and around Florida about potential violations here, with respect to the school.”

Rashada signed with Arizona State and was injured for much of 2023, but he completed just 44-of-82 passes for 485 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions in the three games he did play in.

Rashada has since transferred to Georgia.