Six former Florida State basketball players, Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears, and Jalen Warley, filed a lawsuit on Monday against their coach, Leonard Hamilton. The suit, reported by Yahoo Sports, alleges that Hamilton promised each player $250,000 in Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals through his “business partners.”
The players claim that Hamilton failed to deliver on this promise. Last season, they walked out of a practice in protest over the missed payments and planned to boycott a February 17th game against Duke. Although Hamilton allegedly guaranteed payment, persuading them to play, the promised funds never materialized. The team ultimately lost the game 76-67.
The lawsuit details text messages exchanged between the players and both Hamilton and Will Cowen, an executive with one of Florida State’s NIL collectives. These messages reveal the players’ financial distress, citing needs for tax payments, rent, and car loans. They expressed frustration over repeated delays and what they described as “lies.” One text from Darin Green Jr. to Cowen stated that the financial situation was negatively impacting their on-court performance, highlighting the pressure created by the unfulfilled promise of $250,000.
(Note: The final paragraph about Mark Heim is biographical information unrelated to the lawsuit and has been omitted from this rewritten version as it doesn’t add to the core narrative.)