NCAA investigating Gators’ Rashada recruitment

Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior WriterJan 19, 2024, 06:38 PM ET
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- Senior college football writer
- Author of seven books on college football
- Graduate of the University of Georgia

Florida‘s football program is under NCAA investigation regarding its recruitment of quarterback prospect Jaden Rashada.

Rashada signed with the Gators in December 2022, but was later released from his national letter of intent after his lucrative name, image and likeness package with an independent collective — reportedly worth more than $13 million over four years — fell apart.

Rashada, the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and No. 31 prospect overall in the 2023 ESPN 300, ended up enrolling at Arizona State, his father’s alma mater.

“We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA,” Florida spokesman Steve McClain said in a statement provided to ESPN. “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.”

On Friday, the Tampa Bay Times and The Associated Press obtained an NCAA notice of inquiry that was sent to University of Florida president Ben Sasse on June 9, notifying the school that NCAA enforcement staff had launched an investigation into the football program.

Rashada’s name was not mentioned in the letter, nor was the nature of the alleged NCAA rules violations, according to the AP.

Rashada had agreed to an NIL deal with the Gator Collective, a fundraising arm not officially affiliated with the university that disburses money to student-athletes in all sports. He asked to be released from his letter of intent after the collective purportedly failed to honor his NIL deal. Florida officials granted Rashada’s release on Jan. 20, 2023. The Gator Collective has since been shut down.

Rashada, from Pittsburg, California, was the highest-rated prospect in Florida coach Billy Napier’s 2023 recruiting class and was considered the team’s quarterback of the future. He threw for 5,275 yards with 59 touchdowns at Pittsburg High School.

Rashada had originally committed to Miami before flipping his commitment to the Gators. He passed for 485 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions for the Sun Devils last season.

The NCAA enforcement staff is attempting to crack down on NIL packages being used as recruiting inducements. Last week, Florida State was placed on two years’ probation and was forced to disassociate from one of its collectives for one season for violating NIL rules. Seminoles offensive line coach Alex Atkins was suspended three games for his involvement, sources told ESPN’s Dan Murphy, and a booster was disassociated for three years.

It was the first time the NCAA punished a school, coach or collective for using NIL as a recruiting inducement. It also was the first time the NCAA severed the relationship between a school and an NIL collective as part of penalties.