TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Six former Florida State basketball gamers sued Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton on Monday, alleging he didn’t make good on a promise to get every of them $250,000 in identify, picture and likeness compensation.
The plaintiffs — Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley — filed swimsuit in Leon County circuit court docket, and their lawyer, Fort Lauderdale-based Darren Heitner, shared the 20-page grievance.
The former gamers allege Hamilton promised them the cash from his “enterprise companions.” The lawsuit says they walked out of a observe final season over the missed funds and supposed to boycott a Feb. 17 recreation towards Duke. They ended up enjoying — the Seminoles misplaced — amid a assure from Hamilton that they’d be paid however they by no means had been, in response to the swimsuit.
No lawyer for Hamilton was listed within the lawsuit.
“We assist Coach Hamilton’s proper to defend himself towards these allegations and stay up for an expeditious decision of this matter,” the college mentioned in a press release.
The college’s assertion additionally mentioned an inquiry into the allegations is ongoing however “at this level we all know of no unfulfilled commitments by FSU when it comes to scholarships or different applicable advantages or the Rising Spear Collective relative to NIL funds owed to the athletes.”
FSU hosts Syracuse on Saturday.
The grievance consists of a number of text-message exchanges between gamers and a few between gamers and Hamilton.
FSU completed 17-16 final season, together with 10-10 within the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 76-year-old Hamilton is within the closing yr of his contract. The Seminoles are 9-4, together with 0-2 in league play.
None of the plaintiffs within the lawsuit stays with the staff. Darin Green and Nickelberry exhausted their school eligibility final spring, and the 4 others transferred. Spears is now at UTSA, Fletcher is at Xavier, De’Ante Green is at South Florida and Warley is redshirting at Gonzaga.
The lawsuit is the newest in a rising variety of NIL authorized battles.
Matthew Sluka, a beginning quarterback for the UNLV soccer staff, left this system after three video games in September as a result of he mentioned he was by no means paid on a $100,000 NIL deal. Former Florida quarterback signee Jaden Rashada, now enjoying at Georgia, sued Gators coach Billy Napier final yr over an alleged unpaid $13 million NIL deal. And a number of Tulsa gamers declare they had been by no means paid hundreds in NIL commitments made by former coach Kevin Wilson.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
