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Leonard Hamilton reportedly facing lawsuit from ex-FSU players over NIL payments
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Leonard Hamilton is facing a 7-figure lawsuit from a group of ex-Florida State players who claim he failed to follow through on promised NIL payments.
The lawsuit was first reported by Yahoo!’s Ross Dellenger on Monday morning. The plaintiffs in the case are former FSU basketball players Darin Green Jr., Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears, Cam’Ron Fletcher, De’Ante Green and Jalen Warley.
The plaintiffs say they each were promised $250,000 in NIL payments. The players say they never received payment despite being promised the money on multiple occasions.
According to Dellenger, the lawsuit against Leonard Hamilton includes evidence of the NIL promises in the former of text message exchanges between the players and Hamilton as well as a Florida State NIL collective executive.
The lawsuit also details a practice that players “walked out of” last February over the lack of payment. Players said they intended to boycott Florida State’s game against Duke on Feb. 17, 2024, but ended up playing in the game after a conversation with Hamilton. Duke ultimately won the game 76-67.
None of the 6 players are on Florida State’s 2024-25 roster.
Hamilton is in his 23rd season at Florida State. The Noles have not made the NCAA Tournament — or had a winning record in ACC play — since 2021. So far this season, FSU is 9-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
