At one point, Jaden Rashada was poised to be a Florida Gators, signing as a member of the 2023 signing class. Now he is suing Billy Napier and multiple people connected to the Florida program.
Rashada is filing a lawsuit in the Pensacola Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida against Napier, Florida booster Hugh Hathcock and former Florida director of NIL Marcus Castro-Walker over a failed name, image and likeness deal that would have paid the quarterback $13.85 million.
DawgNation has obtained a copy of the lawsuit.
“Hathcock (on behalf of himself and Velocity Automotive), Castro-Walker and Coach Napier orchestrated and executed a fraud upon Jaden and were substantially and knowingly assisted by one another in carrying out the fraud,” the lawsuit says. “Each of their individual schemes would not have succeeded without assistance from one another.”
According to John Talty of 247Sports, Rashada informed Georgia head coach Kirby Smart of his intent to file the lawsuit, which Smart was reportedly ok with.
Rashada’s recruitment was well followed as he was one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2023 recruiting cycle. He initially committed to Miami but as the lawsuit alleges, Hathcock told Rashada that “whatever Jaden needed to come to UF, Hathcock would make happen.”
The lawsuit also states that Rashada’s father, Harlen, was told he could get a job in the security industry while on a recruiting visit to Florida. A booster contacting a prospective recruit while on campus would be an NCAA violation.
Per the lawsuit, Hathcock and Castro Walker prepared a deal that was worth $13.85 million. The deal was officially signed on Nov. 10, 2022, with $500,000 due to Rashada on Dec. 5.
But Rashada never received payment and on Dec. 6, he received a letter of termination from the Gator Collective.
Through all of this, Rashada still remained committed to Florida. On Dec. 21, the start of the early signing period, the lawsuit alleges that Napier told Rashada that Florida “were good on their promise that Jaden would receive $1 million if he signed with UF on National Signing Day.”
Rashada never received that payment despite signing with Florida. Not even a month after signing with Florida, Rashada entered the transfer portal and landed at Arizona State, his father’s alma mater.
Rashada recently transferred to Georgia after spending the 2023 season at Arizona State. Rashada landed there after his NIL deal fell through with the Gators. He started three games for Arizona State before entering the transfer portal in April and ending up at Georgia.
Georgia and Florida are set to play each other on Nov. 2 this season.