Jaden Rashada’s lawsuit against Florida head football coach Billy Napier and others for breach of contract has the potential to kickstart similar cases involving collectives and name, image and likeness rules, three academic experts who study the matter nationally said Wednesday.
“This is the first – it won’t be the last,” Michael LeRoy, a professor of labor and employee relations at the University of Illinois College of Law.
“I think the very fact he has filed a lawsuit already sets a precedent,” LeRoy said of Rashada, the erstwhile highly touted quarterback recruit.
The lawsuit alleges that Napier; Marcus Castro-Walker, who was then director of player engagement and NIL at Florida, and Hugh Hathcock, a major donor to Gator athletics, persuaded Rashada to drop a $9.5 million offer from the University of Miami to join the Gators instead.
Rashada agreed to a $13.85 million contract that would be paid through Hathcock’s company, Velocity Automotive Solutions, and Gator Guard, the donor’s NIL collective, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida.
However, the deal fell through, the lawsuit said, and Rashada withdrew his intent to play for Florida and signed with Arizona State University. He played one year there before transferring to the University of Georgia, where he intends to play next season.
Stating the quarterback’s decisions to go to Arizona and Georgia were not connected to NIL commitments, the lawsuit adds, “He had learned his lesson.”
UF and the University Athletic Association declined to address the allegations.
“We do not comment on ongoing litigation, and neither the University Athletic Association nor the university are named in the complaint,” Steve McClain wrote in an email.
“The UAA will provide for Coach Napier’s personal counsel, and we will direct all questions to those representatives,” McClain added.
The Wall Street Journal late Tuesday said Rashada has emerged as “the poster child for everything that could possibly go wrong” in the rapidly evolving landscape of college sports.
While Rashada’s allegations have to be proven in a court, the case demonstrates larger concerns in NCAA football regarding collectives, representation of athletes and guidelines around NIL, the academic experts told WUFT News.
“You’re running a business here, so start acting like it,” Greg Dooley, a lecturer at the Marsal Family School of Education at the University of Michigan, said of big-time college programs. “And that’s where we’re seeing problems because really no one is quite equipped to do it.”
Dooley said the lawsuit’s allegations, if true, highlights the backroom deals that too often are associated with collegiate athletics. “There’s a lot of money getting thrown around,” he said. “We need to do right by these young people.”
Many recruits or transfers went to a school only to find out that a collective didn’t have the money to pay, according to Robert Boland, an assistant professor of law at Seton Hall University and former athletics integrity officer at Penn State University.
“I think there are collectives out there making promises that are beyond their capability to manage,” Boland said.
As a whole, the NCAA must reexamine the way college athletes are rewarded for their success on the field, the professors said. But there are different solutions and paths the NCAA can take.
LeRoy said he believes that employment and collective bargaining is the final solution.
“The sooner the NCAA calls things for what it is, and allows for employment and collective bargaining, [then] they can move to a much more stable environment,” he said.
Unionization has already started to make its way through collegiate sports. The National Labor Relations Board in February ruled the Dartmouth men’s basketball team were employees.
And Nick Saban, the newly retired former University of Alabama football head coach, spoke about the possibilities of unionization during 2023 SEC spring meetings.
“I have no problem with that,” Saban said. “Unionize it. Make it like the NFL. I mean, if it’s going to be the same for everyone, I think that’s better than what we have now.”
Dooley agreed that players should have a way to organize, but he cautioned against unionization.
“You’d like to hope not, because that implies that they’re not being treated fairly,” he said. “That’s when people unionize and bargain … to fight for their rights.”
He said the NCAA should instead create a revenue-sharing agreement for athletes and schools.
In the meantime, Dooley said the Florida football team would likely not face harsh punishments by any NCAA investigations.
“If I were in Florida, I wouldn’t be too worried about the NCAA coming back hard,” he said. “On this particular incident, I think they have bigger fish to fry.”
ESPN reported earlier this year that the NCAA had started an investigation into the failed deal. Investigators interviewed Rashada last year, sources with direct knowledge told ESPN.
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