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The Florida Gators may live to regret they opted to recruit California prospect Jaden Rashada.
Rashada, a four-star quarterback in the class of 2022, signed with a Gators after a whirlwind recruitment that allegedly included a $13 million NIL deal.
But when the check never cleared, Rashada backed off of his commitment to Florida and eventually landed with the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Now Stewart Mandel and Chris Vannini of The Athletic report that the NCAA is investigating the Gators over the handling of Rashada’s infamous recruitment.
“According to the two sources with knowledge of the investigation, the NCAA has inquired about the role of Florida staff member Marcus Castro-Walker, who is listed on the school’s website as director of player engagement and NIL, and booster Hugh Hathcock, who pledged $12.6 million to Florida’s athletic department in April 2022 and later launched the Gator Guard collective,” the report states. “Multiple Hathcock tweets posted right before Rashada’s commitment, hinting at a great day coming for Florida, also alluded to possible involvement in the deal.”
Florida senior associate athletic director Steve McClain says he intends to fully cooperate with the NCAA.
(A bold move given the success of programs who have not played ball with the NCAA)
“We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA,” McClain said in a statement. “We hold ourselves to high standards of excellence and integrity on and off the field. Because we follow NCAA policies about maintaining confidentiality, we are unable to offer additional comments.”
Rashada appeared in three games for the Sun Devils in 2023. He completed 44-of-82 passes for for 485 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.
Florida, meanwhile, went 5-7 in their second season under head coach Billy Napier and finished fifth in the SEC East.
Ironically, the Gators join rivals Miami and Florida State as teams facing potential punishment for NIL-related NCAA violations.