Ex-Florida State players sue Leonard Hamilton over $250K NIL payment promises

The Wild Wild West of college sports' Name, Image and Likeness era has unsurprisingly devolved into the world of litigation.

In an unprecedented development of NIL compensation, six former players of the 2023-24 Florida State men's basketball team filed a lawsuit against head coach Leonard Hamilton for unpaid promises totaling $1.5 million, Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported on Monday.

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Cam’Ron Fletcher, Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley allege that Hamilton made NIL payment promises of $250,000 each that were to be paid by the coach's "business partners," according to Dellenger.

Also in the legal claim filed in Florida’s Leon County circuit court, the players claim Hamilton made the payment pledges in two separate team meetings and in conversations with players and their families.

The players also revealed that their frustrations prompted them to organize a boycott of a team practice when they "walked out of the gym." They also planned to sit out a Feb. 17 game against Duke.

Hamilton, after finding out about the players' planned revolt, made another payment promise, assuring them that "the money would be in the players' accounts the very next week," according to Dellenger.

Four of the players — Fletcher (Xavier), De’Ante Green (South Florida), Spears (UTSA) and Warley (Gonzaga) — transferred to other schools.

The most public NIL spat previously occurred in September when UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka left the Rebels football program after claiming a $100,000 NIL deal went unfulfilled. Sluka played only three games and entered the transfer portal in October.

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