florida Last season, men's basketball players refused to practice before a key game against Duke University in protest of broken NIL promises. On Monday, six former players filed a lawsuit against Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton for failing to pay each player $250,000. According to Yahoo! insider Ross Dellenger, Sports.
Six former FSU players filed the lawsuit: Camron Fletcher, Jalen Worley, Josh Nickelberry, Darin Green Jr., Primo Spears and DeAnte Green. None of the NIL promises were put into writing, but Hamilton reportedly “promised” money to players in team meetings and private conversations.
No players are committed to Florida State this season. Fletcher went to Xavier, Worley went to Gonzaga, Spears is now at UTSA and Green went to South Florida, but Nickel Berry and Green Jr. have exhausted their eligibility.
Here's part of Delenger's report:
In several messages to Cowen and conversations with Hamilton, the players said they needed the money to pay taxes, rent and transportation, and that they were “sick of the lies.” I told you. Midway through last season, team leader Green texted Cowen, saying, “This financial situation is weighing heavily on a lot of our players and it's impacting our players on the court.'' He explained that he was trying to get them to understand. But, “When you're told it's 250 grand, it's a big deal.”
After Florida State players boycotted practice, executives from the school's NIL group were in the team's film room, and Hamilton again told the players they would be paid next week. they never arrived.
FSU went just 17-16 overall last season. The program has not participated in the NCAA Tournament since the 2020-21 season. Hamilton led FSU to the Elite Eight in 2018 and reached the Sweet 16 in 2011, 2019 and 2021. Programs in the NIL era have been in trouble, and this lawsuit certainly won't solve the problem.
