A group of former Florida State Seminoles basketball players filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against their former coach, Leonard Hamilton, over unpaid promises of NIL compensation totaling $1.5 million.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Leon County Circuit Court in Florida, has six former Seminoles claiming that Hamilton, a 37-year-old head coach with a career at Oklahoma State and Miami before accepting the Florida job State in 2002, promised each of them $250,000 in NIL Payments through “business partners,” according to Yahoo Sports.
The plaintiffs are Darin Green Jr., Josh Nickleberry, Primo Spears, Cam’Ron Fletcher, De’Ante Green and Jalen Warley.
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Florida State Seminoles guard Primo Spears, #23, talks with Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the second half at Capital One Arena. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
However, the lawsuit claims that the players never received payment despite Hamilton making public promises during two team meetings, as well as individual conversations with some of the players and their respective families.
In fact, some of the players transferred to the Seminoles program with the assurance that they would receive NIL compensation.
The lawsuit also provides text chains between players, as well as threads between the players and Hamilton. Will Cowen, an executive with one of Florida State’s NIL groups, is also on text message chains with players.
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What makes this lawsuit even more intriguing is that the players claim they “walked out of the gym” during a practice before the team’s Feb. 17 game against Duke due to their frustration over unpaid NIL money. They also claimed that they were going to boycott the game, although Hamilton discovered that plan and allegedly told the players that the money would be in their accounts next week.
Florida State eventually played the game, losing to Duke, 76-67.
Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton on the sideline against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second half at McCamish Pavilion. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
“We support Coach Hamilton’s right to defend himself against these allegations and look forward to a swift resolution of this matter,” the university said in a statement, via ESPN.
This lawsuit may be unprecedented, but this is not the first time fans have heard that NIL compensation is the root of an entitlement between the player and the program.
There was Matthew Sluka at UNLV, who abruptly left the football team as its starting quarterback because his coach allegedly promised him a $100,000 NIL deal that was never received. Then, there was Jaden Rashada, the former Florida Gators quarterback, who filed a lawsuit against head coach Billy Napier over an unpaid $13 million NIL payment he was promised during recruiting.
In this case, four of the players have since transferred out of Florida State due to not receiving compensation, while two others are no longer eligible to play collegiately.
Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton looks on against the LSU Tigers during the first half at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. (Images by Stephen Lew-Imagn)
“All players on the 2023-24 FSU men’s basketball team’s roster relied on the promises Hamilton made when they decided to transfer to FSU or remain enrolled at FSU and play the season,” the lawsuit says, via Yahoo Sports. “However, as the season progressed, many players, including the plaintiffs, became very frustrated by the continued failure to fulfill the countless promises made by Hamilton.”
