6 former Florida State basketball players sue legendary coach for unpaid NIL compensation
A group of Florida State Seminoles basketball players are suing their former coach, Leonard Hamilton, over unpaid NIL compensation promises of up to $1.5 million.
The lawsuit, filed in Florida’s Leon County District Court, has six Seminoles claiming Hamilton, a 37-year-old coach who worked at Oklahoma State and Miami before taking the Florida State job in 2002, promised each of them $250,000 NIL in payments through “business associates ,” per 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 during the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Capital One Arena. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
However, the lawsuit said the players never received the payment despite Hamilton making public promises at two team meetings and one-on-one interviews with some of the players and their families.
In fact, some of the players were transferred from the Seminoles program under the guarantee that they would be made NIL compensation.
The case also provides textual chains between the players, as well as threads between the players and Hamilton. Will Cowen, a senior at one of Florida State’s NIL teams, is also in chains with the players.
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What makes this case even more surprising is that the players said they “walked out of the gym” during practice before the team’s February 17 game against Duke because of the unpaid NIL. They also said they would boycott the game, although Hamilton got wind of that plan and reportedly told the players that the money would be in their accounts next week.
Florida State finally played a game, losing to Duke, 76-67.
Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton on the sidelines against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during the second half at McCamish Pavilion. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
“We support Coach Hamilton’s right to respond to these allegations and look forward to a speedy resolution to this matter,” the university said in a statement, via ESPN.
This case may be unprecedented, but it’s not the first time fans have heard about NIL compensation being the root of the right between a player and a program.
There was Matthew Sluka at UNLV, who left the football team abruptly as their starting quarterback because his coach promised him a $100,000 NIL contract that never materialized. Then there’s Jaden Rashada, the former Florida Gators linebacker, who filed a lawsuit against head coach Billy Napier over the unpaid $13 million NIL payment he was promised when he was hired.
Of this, four players have since left Florida State due to non-compensation, and two others are no longer eligible to play collegiately.
Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton looks on against the LSU Tigers in the first half at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. (Photos by Stephen Lew-Imagn)
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“Every player on FSU’s 2023-24 men’s basketball team’s roster relied on promises made by Hamilton when he decided to transfer to FSU or remain enrolled at FSU and play the season,” the suit says, via Yahoo Sports. “However, as the season progressed, many players, including the plaintiffs, became increasingly frustrated with the continued failure to deliver on a number of promises made by Hamilton.”
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