Florida
State
Seminoles
men’s
basketball
coach
Leonard
Hamilton
is
0-2
in
conference
play
and
0-1
in
“not
getting
sued
over
$1.5
million
in
alleged
fraud.”
In
a
lawsuit
filed
yesterday,
six
former
FSU
players
allege
that
they
were
promised
$250,000
each
in
“name,
image,
and
likeness”
money
for
their
services.
According
to
the
complaint,
that
money
never
showed
up,
though
Hamilton
kept
promising
it
would.
The
name
of
a
Native
American
tribe
and
“legacy
of
broken
promises”
in
the
same
breath?
Who’d
have
thought?
While
purists
pine
for
the
old
days
of
trapping
student-athletes
in
four
years
of
servitude
in
exchange
for
a
scholarship
while
the
school
marketed
the
team
for
millions,
the
new
“NIL”
landscape
aims
to
curtail
some
of
this
exploitation
by
authorizing
payments
to
players
for
the
use
of
their
“name,
image,
and
likeness.”
It’s
not
a
real
measure
of
the
value
students
bring
to
the
school,
but
it
curbs
wildest
excesses.
It’s
also
a
tool
for
recruiting,
with
teams
building
promised
packages
to
lure
high
school
and
transfer
students
to
get
the
best
deal.
That’s
where
this
lawsuit
began:
The
Plaintiffs
in
this
matter,
who
were
on
the
FSU
men’s
basketball
roster
during
the
2023-24
season,
were
all
made
the
same
promise
by
Hamilton.
If
they
committed
to
and
remained
enrolled
at
FSU,
performing
for
the
men’s
basketball
team,
then
they
would
each
receive
$250,000.00.
Hamilton
promised
this
sum
of
money
directly
and
reinforced
it
many
times
over
to
the
Plaintiffs
and
their
family
members.
According
to
the
complaint,
once
the
players
realized
that
they
weren’t
going
to
get
paid,
they
decided
to
boycott
practice
before
the
Duke
game
and
potentially
sit
out
the
game
entirely.
Hamilton
panicked.
In
a
team
meeting
where
all
scholarship
players
were
present,
Hamilton
reiterated
that
each
player
would
be
paid
$250,000.00
and
that
it
would
hit
their
accounts
the
following
week.
Hamilton
stated
that
he
understood
why
the
players
were
frustrated
and
committed
to
fully
paying
each
player
$250,000.00
before
the
conclusion
of
the
2023-24
men’s
basketball
season.
What’s
the
line
from
Popeye?
“I
will
gladly
pay
you
Tuesday
for
another
40
minutes
of
basketball
today”?
The
players
relented
and
played
the
game.
The
money,
they
say,
never
arrived.
Worse,
the
players
claim
that
the
executive
in
charge
of
the
school’s
official
NIL
collective
knew
about
this
promise
being
made
outside
of
his
direct
control:
Every
player
on
FSU’s
2023-24
men’s
basketball
team
relied
on
Hamilton’s
constant
and
repeated
promises
to
their
detriment.
Will
Cowan,
an
executive
of
FSU’s
NIL
collective
“Rising
Spear”
has
actual
knowledge
of
Hamilton’s
promises
to
make
the
$250,000.00
per
player
payment,
with
the
money
purportedly
coming
from
Hamilton’s
“business
partners,”
and
wrote
to
Jalen
Warley,
after
he
expressed
his
intention
to
enter
the
transfer
portal,
“I
promise
you
if
the
money
comes
in
from
that
business,
I
will
pay
every
player
on
the
team
no
matter
where
the
transfer
is.”
The
complaint
asserts
breach
of
contract,
promissory
estoppel,
fraudulent
inducement,
and
negligent
misrepresentations
claims
against
the
coach.
NIL
rights
have,
in
general,
improved
the
college
sports
landscape,
but
the
lack
of
consistent
rules
and
the
opportunity
for
shenanigans
have
given
rise
to
stories
like
this
one.
The
complaint
notes
cases
at
UNLV,
Tulsa,
and
the
University
of
Florida
—
it
was
always
going
to
keep
coming
back
to
Florida
—
where
athletes
allege
NIL
agreement
breaches.
So
this
won’t
be
the
last
time
we
hear
allegations
like
these.
[Disclosure:
The
players
are
represented
by
Darren
Heitner,
who
has
in
the
past
written
columns
for
Above
the
Law.
He
has
not
communicated
with
us
at
all
regarding
this
case.]
Florida
State
Basketballers
Sue
Coach
Over
Unpaid
NIL
Cash
[Bloomberg
Law
News]
Chris
