TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Six former Florida State basketball players sued Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton on Monday, alleging he failed to make good on a promise to get each of them $250,000 in name, image and likeness compensation.
The plaintiffs — Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley — filed suit in Leon County circuit court, and their attorney, Fort Lauderdale-based Darren Heitner, shared the 20-page complaint.
The former players allege Hamilton promised them the money from his “business partners.” The lawsuit says they walked out of a practice last season over the missed payments and intended to boycott a Feb. 17 game against Duke. They ended up playing — the Seminoles lost — amid a guarantee from Hamilton that they would be paid but they never were, according to the suit.
No attorney for Hamilton was listed in the lawsuit.
“We support Coach Hamilton’s right to defend himself against these allegations and look forward to an expeditious resolution of this matter,” the university said in a statement.
The university’s statement also said an inquiry into the allegations is ongoing but “at this point we know of no unfulfilled commitments by FSU in terms of scholarships or other appropriate benefits or the Rising Spear Collective relative to NIL payments owed to the athletes.”
FSU hosts Syracuse on Saturday.
The complaint includes multiple text-message exchanges between players and some between players and Hamilton.
FSU finished 17-16 last season, including 10-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 76-year-old Hamilton is in the final year of his contract. The Seminoles are 9-4, including 0-2 in league play.
None of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit remains with the team. Darin Green and Nickelberry exhausted their college eligibility last spring, and the four others transferred. Spears is now at UTSA, Fletcher is at Xavier, De’Ante Green is at South Florida and Warley is redshirting at Gonzaga.
The lawsuit is the latest in a growing number of NIL legal battles.
Matthew Sluka, a starting quarterback for the UNLV football team, left the program after three games in September because he said he was never paid on a $100,000 NIL deal. Former Florida quarterback signee Jaden Rashada, now playing at Georgia, sued Gators coach Billy Napier last year over an alleged unpaid $13 million NIL deal. And several Tulsa players claim they were never paid thousands in NIL commitments made by former coach Kevin Wilson.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Several former Florida State University basketball players have filed a lawsuit against head coach Leonard Hamilton, alleging that he failed to deliver promised payments for their name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights.
The players, who were part of the Seminoles’ roster between 2018 and 2021, claim that Hamilton made verbal agreements to compensate them for promoting the team and utilizing their personal brands to generate revenue. However, they assert that they never received the agreed-upon payments and were left empty-handed.
The lawsuit accuses Hamilton of breach of contract, fraud, and unjust enrichment, among other claims. The players are seeking monetary damages for the unpaid NIL payments, as well as punitive damages for the alleged misconduct.
This legal action comes amid the ongoing debate over the compensation of college athletes for their NIL rights. With the recent changes in NCAA rules allowing players to profit from their personal brands, cases like this one highlight the importance of transparency and accountability in these transactions.
Coach Hamilton has yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit, but the outcome of this case could have significant implications for how college coaches and programs handle NIL agreements with their student-athletes. Stay tuned for updates on this developing story.
Tags:
- Ex-FSU players
- Leonard Hamilton
- NIL payments
- Lawsuit
- Florida State University
- College athletics
- Student-athlete rights
- Name, image, likeness
- Legal action
- Compensation dispute
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