With Alex Atkins and Jaden Rashada cases, FSU and Florida football face NIL violations. Here’s what to know

Is the NCAA out to get Florida’s college football teams? That’s not likely, but two of the biggest programs in the state have recently been the subject of investigations into their handling of recruiting and NIL. One of them has already been sanctioned.

It started in June when University of Florida President Ben Sasse received a notice of inquiry of an NCAA investigation. When the news broke Friday, January 19, reports indicated the probe centered around the failed recruitment of quarterback prospect Jaden Rashada.

That news followed the announcement a week prior that Florida State was being hit with a two-year probation, among other sanctions, after the NCAA said offensive coordinator Alex Atkins drove a recruit to a meeting with a leader of FSU’s NIL collective.

The 1-2 punch against Florida’s two most popular teams brought out the conspiracy theories from Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis, who claimed on social media the investigations were retaliation against Gov. Ron DeSantis for relocating about 50 Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022 (NCAA President Charlie Baker was the governor of Massachusetts at the time).

Pretty obvious the @NCAA and @CharlieBaker have it out for teams in the Sunshine State. They let NIL run wild and now they desperately want to put the cat back in the bag. Damn shame what they’ve done to college football. https://t.co/a0lIG96USF

— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) January 20, 2024

The punishments against FSU are the first levied against a college football program for violating the NCAA’s name, image and likeness (NIL) policy, which allows for student athletes to be paid for endorsement deals. It’s a recent change, and a big one at that: Before the summer of 2021, student athletes were not allowed to make any money while playing in college.

So just what is NIL, and what are the…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/alex-atkins-jaden-rashada-cases-175932895.html

Author : Tallahassee Democrat

Publish date : 2024-01-20 17:59:32

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