Judge: Jaden Rashada's lawsuit vs. Florida coach Billy Napier can proceed

Former Florida recruit Jaden Rashada's lawsuit against Gators football coach Billy Napier and a prominent booster over a $13.85 million name, image and likeness (NIL) deal that went awry can continue to discovery, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Though three of the counts were dismissed in the 40-page order out of the U.S. District Court's Northern District of Florida, the judge allowed three fraud-related accounts and another count of conspiracy to commit fraud to proceed. M. Casey Rodgers said the suit's allegations "advance a compelling narrative that the Defendants were all marching to the beat of the same drum throughout Rashada's failed recruitment to UF, each taking interwoven and often overlapping steps designed to lure Rashada away from Miami all while knowing they would never make good on the NIL promises made and leading Rashada on until his other NIL offers dried up." The lawsuit filed in May 2024 alleges that Napier and prominent Gators booster Hugh Hathcock made "false and fraudulent promises" to induce Rashada to sign with the program in 2022. Rashada initially committed to the University of Miami, where he reportedly had a $9.5 million NIL deal on the table. He flipped to Florida after agreeing to a $13.85 million deal with the now-defunct Gator Collective. "(It) doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand how a purportedly fraudulent NIL deal initially valued north of $13 million could induce a teenager to choose a university he otherwise would not have," Rodgers wrote in Tuesday's order. The lawsuit claims that Napier promised a $1 million "partial payment" to Rashada's father when the quarterback prospect signed his national letter of intent, but that the payment never was received. Hathcock and a former Florida staffer, Marcus Castro-Walker, are named in the lawsuit along with Napier. "Once Jaden committed to UF, rather than make Jaden ‘rich' as promised, these people -- with Hathcock leading the charge -- changed their tune and went back on their word. The amount of UF-affiliated NIL money available for Jaden decreased drastically," the lawsuit states. Rashada ended up withdrawing his letter of intent with Florida and enrolled at Arizona State. He appeared in three games for the Sun Devils as a freshman in 2023, passing for 485 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. He transferred from Arizona State to Georgia for the 2024 season but did not play in any games. He entered the transfer portal in January. "We appreciate the thorough and thoughtful opinion," Rashada's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement Wednesday. "It will serve as a North Star for other athletes seeking justice after being done wrong on the NIL front by coaches and boosters. We look forward to discovery fully exposing the defendants' conduct for all to see." There has been no date set for the next court appearance. --Field Level Media