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Florida football coach Billy Napier offered his first public comments since being sued by five-star quarterback Jaden Rashada last week, saying he was comfortable in the decisions he made.
Napier, booster Hugh Hathcock and former Florida Gators football staffer Marcus Castro-Walker were named in the suit last week, which accused the three of fraud for failing to follow through on a $13,8 million Name, Image and Likeness deal that Rashada claimed was promised to him during the 2022-23 recruiting cycle.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims Napier promised Rashada and his family $1 million to sign with UF on National Signing Day. Rashada signed with UF on Dec. 21, 2022, but didn’t enroll at the school the following month and was released from his National Letter of Intent in late January of 2023.
The University of Florida and Florida’s athletic department were not named in the suit but will provide counsel for Napier to fight the suit.
“I can’t comment due to the litigation,” Napier said at SEC spring meetings in Destin on Tuesday. “But I do have confidence in my legal team. I am comfortable with my actions and I am thankful for the university’s support. We’ll leave it at that and let the process take its course.”
Asked how it has impacted momentum for the program during a positive spring for Florida in terms of workouts and the transfer portal, Napier responded: “I spent about 30 minutes observing our team this morning before coming here. We officially started our offseason program for the summer this morning. That’s what gives me confidence. We executed the first half of the offseason the best we’ve done since we’ve been here. We certainly have evolved, we’ve adapted, and I feel good about our systems. We’ve got credible leadership.”
Rashada enrolled at Arizona State and has since transferred to Georgia. When asked about a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-football-coach-billy-napier-172414113.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-05-28 17:24:14
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