TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Six former Florida State men’s basketball players filed a lawsuit Monday against their former head coach Leonard Hamilton over unpaid NIL compensations, totaling up to $1.5 million.

The lawsuit was filed by Darin Green Jr., Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears, Cam’ron Fletcher, De’Ante Green and Jalen Warley, according to the filed suit in Leon County circuit court, who were on the university’s men’s basketball roster during the 2023 -2024 season.

The legal complaint listed the following counts: breach of contract, promissory estoppel, fraudulent misrepresentation and fraudulent inducement, and negligent misrepresentations.

The lawsuit indicated that Hamilton promised the six former players they would receive $250,000 each if they “committed to and remained enrolled at FSU, performing for the men’s basketball team.”

Additionally, the former coach promised the money directly and “reinforced it many times over” to all six players and their families, the lawsuit read.

The legal complaint revealed several screenshots of text messages between the players and their family members, memorializing the conversations they’ve held with Hamilton regarding the NIL compensation promises. Additionally, court records revealed that group chat messages were also held with Will Cowan, an executive of Rising Spear, FSU’s NIL collective.

Once the six former players realized near the end of the basketball season that their former coach was unlikely to pay each of them $250,000 each, court records revealed that the players decided to boycott practice leading up to their home game against Duke University in February.

Court records called the matchup against Duke “one of the most important games of the season.”

Additionally, the players also determined to not participate in the game against Duke, according to court records. The lawsuit wrote that Hamilton then panicked and “reiterated that each player would be paid $250,000 and that it would hit their accounts the following week.”

However, the legal complaint indicated that the players did not receive their compensation that following week despite relying on Hamilton’s promise and playing in the game against Duke.

In the legal complaint, the six former players requested that the Court: Adjudge and decree that Hamilton’s actions caused Plaintiffs significant damages, award Plaintiffs each $250,000.00 in compensatory damages (for a total of  $1,500,000.00) based on the amounts they were individually promised and never paid, award Plaintiffs punitive and exemplary damages to assist in deterring and preventing similar conduct in the future, award Plaintiffs pre-judgment and post-judgment interest at the highest statutory rate, award Plaintiffs any other relief that this Court deems just and proper.

This story will continue to be updated as we learn more.

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