TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — On Monday, six former Florida State basketball players filed a lawsuit against Leonard Hamilton, the Seminoles coach, claiming he had not fulfilled his pledge to provide them with $250,000 in name, image, and likeness money each.
Darin Green Jr., De Ante Green, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears, Cam Ron Fletcher, and Jalen Warley were the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court. The 20-page complaint was sent to The Associated Press by their lawyer, Darren Heitner of Fort Lauderdale.The case was initially reported by Yahoo Sports.
The former players claim that Hamilton’s business associates promised them the money. According to the lawsuit, they planned to boycott a game against Duke on February 17 after leaving a practice last season due to unpaid invoices. The lawsuit claims that despite Hamilton’s assurance that they would be compensated, they ultimately played in the Seminoles’ 76-67 loss.
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The lawsuit did not name Hamilton’s lawyer. On Saturday, FSU hosts Syracuse.
Several text messages between players and several between players and Hamilton are included in the allegation.
Last season, FSU had a 17-16 record, including a 10-10 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Hamilton, who is 76, is in the last year of his deal. The Seminoles are 9-4 overall, with a 0-2 league record.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs have all left the squad. Last spring, Green and Nickelberry used up all of their college credits, while the other four transferred. Fletcher is at Xavier, De Ante Green is at USF, Warley is at Gonzaga, and Spears is presently at UTSA.
The case is the most recent of an increasing number of NIL court cases.
Since he was never given a $100,000 NIL contract, Matthew Sluka, a starting quarterback for the UNLV football team, quit the program after three games in September. Jaden Rashada, a former Florida quarterback who is currently playing for Georgia, filed a lawsuit against Gators coach Billy Napier last year over an unpaid $13 million NIL contract. Additionally, a number of Tulsa players assert that previous coach Kevin Wilson never paid them thousands of dollars in NIL obligations.
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