Florida coach Billy Napier filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit stemming from a failed $13.85 million name, image and likeness deal with now-Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada on Tuesday.
The motion, filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern Florida, claims that "Napier could not have defrauded Rashada since the sole statement attributed to Napier is alleged to have been made after Rashada had already abandoned the Miami NIL deal."
Tuesday was the deadline for all the parties to file motions to dismiss. Earlier in the day, former Florida staffer Marcus Castro-Walker and Gators booster Hugh Hathcock filed similar motions.
The Rashada lawsuit, filed on May 21st, alleges Napier, Hathcock and Castro-Walker fraudulently convinced Rashada, then a highly regarded high school quarterback prospect, to attend Florida with no intention of following through on their financial promises. Specifically, the lawsuit claims "fraudulent misrepresentation and inducement, aiding and abetting fraud, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference with a business relationship or contract and aiding and abetting tortious interference."
At the crux of Rashada's argument are the alleged actions of Napier, Hathcock and his company, Velocity Automotive, as well as Castro-Walker convincing Rashada to eschew a previously agreed upon $9.5 million NIL deal to attend Miami in favor of Florida. Rashada committed to play football at Miami in June 2022, but the lawsuit alleges Florida employees and boosters never backed off in their pursuit of the talented Pittsburg, California product. It includes allegations that Hathcock told Rashada, "whatever Jaden needed to come to UF, Hathcock would make happen."
The suit alleges Napier told Rashada on Dec. 21, 2022, that Florida alumni "were good on their promise that Jaden would receive $1 million if he signed with UF on National Signing Day" and that Hathcock, specifically, would make the payment. The argument is that those promises prevented Rashada from capitalizing on his previously agreed-to $9.5 million deal with Miami.
Napier's filing claims that he couldn't have tortiously interfered with Rashada's Miami deal because "Rashada had already abandoned that deal by November 2022 -- more than a month before Napier's alleged involvement." It concludes by asking for all claims to be dismissed: "The complaint accuses Napier of fraud but fails to support the accusation with significant allegations of fact. Further, Rashada's claims against Napier are barred by sovereign immunity."
Castro-Walker, who is no longer employed at Florida, called the contents of Rashada's lawsuit a "juicy bestseller in the fiction genre" in his motion to dismiss on Tuesday. The motion argues it would "defy credulity" for him to not want Rashada to not end up at Florida because it was his job to recruit him.
After the failed NIL deal with Florida, Rashada ultimately enrolled and spent a single season at Arizona State. Following the 2023 season, Rashada transferred to Georgia where he is expected to serve as a reserve quarterback behind Carson Beck this season.
In May Napier made his first public comment about the case, stating he was comfortable with his actions.
