Florida State men’s basketball players refused to practice before a marquee game against Duke last season in protest over broken NIL promises. On Monday, six former players filed a lawsuit against Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton over missed payments of $250K for each athlete, according to insider Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports.
Cam’Ron Fletcher, Jalen Warley, Josh Nickelberry, Darin Green Jr., Primo Spears, and De’Ante Green are six former FSU players who filed the lawsuit. While none of the NIL promises were put in writing according to the report, Hamilton “promised” the players the money in team meetings and individual conversations.
None of the players are on Florida State this season. Fletcher transferred to Xavier, Warley transferred to Gonzaga, Spears is now at UTSA, and Green transferred to South Florida, while Nickelberry and Green Jr. exhausted their eligibility.
Here’s part of Dellenger’s reporting:
In several messages to Cowen and in conversations with Hamilton, players communicated that they needed the money to pay taxes, rent and car notes, and that they were “tired of the lies.” In the middle of last season, Green, a team leader, texted Cowen that “this money situation is weighing on a lot of guys and affecting guys on the court” and explained that he was trying to “get the guys to understand” the delay in payment but “it’s hard when they have been told 250 grand.”
After Florida State players boycotted the practice, an executive with a school NIL collective was in the team film room where Hamilton again told his players that their payments were coming next week. They never arrived.
FSU finished only 17-16 overall last season. The program hasn’t made 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. It’s been a rough go for the program in the NIL era, and this lawsuit certainly won’t help things.
