Quarterback Jaden Rashada agreed to a settlement on Tuesday, ending his name, image and likeness lawsuit targeting former Florida coach Billy Napier and others.
Terms of the agreement were not announced.
The defendants included Napier, school booster Hugh Hathcock, Hathcock’s company and ex-Florida staffer Marcus Castro-Walker, according to The Athletic.
Rashada accused the defendants of reneging on a four-year, $13.85 million NIL agreement reached when he was a high school senior in Pittsburg, Calif., in late 2022.
The quarterback, who previously committed to Miami, instead signed with Florida, but he never played for the Gators.
Rashada’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, told ESPN after the settlement was revealed, “He’s a bright young man with great judgment. He thought it was time to move on. He made the point he wanted to make, and now he’s ready to go play football.”
Napier’s attorneys, Hank Coxe and Michael Lockamy, said in a statement to The Athletic, “The parties have reached a confidential resolution of the litigation. The case will be dismissed, and all parties are moving forward.”
While the case was working its way through the legal system, a federal judge wrote in 2025, per The Athletic, that Rashada’s assertions “advance a compelling narrative that the Defendants were all marching to the beat of the same drum throughout Rashada’s failed recruitment to UF, each taking interwoven and often overlapping steps designed to lure Rashada away from Miami all while knowing they would never make good on the NIL promises made and leading Rashada on until his other NIL offers dried up.”
Rashada appeared in three games for Arizona State in 2023, completing 53.7% of his passes for 485 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.
He subsequently transferred to Georgia, though he never played for the Bulldogs, and then to Sacramento State. Last season for the Hornets, he connected on 40.5% of his passes for 264 yards with one TD and one interception in six games.
Three weeks ago, Rashada transferred again, to Mississippi State.
–Field Level Media
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