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 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. Ex-FSU players sue coach over $250K NIL promise
A promise? They should have gotten a contract. Seems like a lot of time has passed - 10.5 months or so; that’s curious. Perhaps those former players are having a hard time finding employment.
Here's what poster blackbird68 wrote on another thread: "Oral contracts are enforceable in Florida unless within the statute of Frauds. Likewise even absent a enforceable contract a person may still be liable under a theory of promissory estoppel."
Not sure about the legal end of this but getting sued by former players doesn’t seem to be a positive in recruiting
Maybe so, but I would have tried to get it in writing. Pretty sure the players wouldn’t know this though and trusted Hamilton at his word. Thanks for the correction!
Below is a statement from Florida State University regarding the legal complaint filed in Leon County Circuit Court this morning "Since the beginning of the name, image, and likeness era of collegiate athletics, FSU has maintained a comprehensive compliance education program for coaches and other athletics staff, and a clear expectation of ethical conduct by all in dealing with student-athletes. Upon learning recently of the allegations made by former men's basketball athletes, the University has worked diligently to determine what transpired last season. Though our inquiry is not yet complete, 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. We support Coach Hamilton's right to defend himself against these allegations and look forward to an expeditious resolution of this matter."
These were players already on the FSU roster. One player could be a misunderstanding but 6 likely has some truth to it. Harder to refute
