Florida State’s basketball coach was sued by his players for this terrible reason

Coaching in college has become a different job after recent rule changes. 

That is putting coaches in situations they never dreamed of. 

And Florida State’s basketball coach was sued by his players for this terrible reason. 

Former Florida State players sue head coach over NIL payments 

College sports were forever changed when they moved from being strictly amateur to becoming quasi-professional after the Supreme Court’s 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Alston decision opened the door for student-athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL).

Paying players was once strictly forbidden in college sports. 

Now, it has become an integral part of recruiting and retaining players. 

The new NIL era of college sports is putting coaches and players in once unthinkable situations. 

Florida State University men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton was hit with a $1.5 million lawsuit by six former Seminoles players over unpaid NIL money. 

The lawsuit alleges that Hamilton promised the players $250,000 each that would be paid by a “business partner” during the 2023-24 season. 

Hamilton allegedly promised the money to the players in team meetings and one-on-one conversations. 

The former Seminoles involved in the lawsuit are Darin Green Jr., Josh Nickleberry, Primo Spears, Cam’Ron Fletcher, De’Ante Green, and Jalen Warley. 

Some of these players claimed that the promised NIL payments were the reason they transferred to Florida State. 

The lawsuit uses text messages from Hamilton and an executive at one of the Florida State NIL collectives, Will Cowen, as evidence. 

“Every player on the 2023-24 FSU men’s basketball team roster relied on the promises that Hamilton made when they either decided to transfer to FSU or remain enrolled at FSU and play out the season,” the lawsuit states. “However, as the season continued, many players, including the plaintiffs, became very frustrated by the continuous failure to perform on the myriad of promises issued by Hamilton.”

Florida State players walked out of practice in protest 

The former Florida State players were so frustrated over the non-payment of NIL money that they “walked out of the gym” during practice last year ahead of a game against Duke. 

And the players were reportedly going to boycott the game until Hamilton promised them that the money would be in their accounts next week. 

Florida State lost the game against Duke, 76-67. 

Darin Green, Jr. sent a text message to Cowen saying, “this money situation is weighing on a lot of guys and affecting guys on the court.”

 The 76-year-old Hamilton is in his 37th season of being a head coach in college basketball. 

He is the winningest coach in Florida State’s history and had 19 NBA draft picks during his 23 seasons at the school. 

Two of the players in the lawsuit ran out of collegiate eligibility and four transferred to other schools for this season.

Florida State is standing behind its longtime head coach.

“We support Coach Hamilton’s right to defend himself against these allegations and look forward to an expeditious resolution of this matter,” Florida State said in a statement. 

Controversies over NIL payments are becoming a part of the landscape of college sports.