The Gator Nation got some bad news on Friday when Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times published a report that the University of Florida’s football program has been under investigation by the NCAA since last summer.
No other specifics were released at the time, but The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel and Chris Vannini followed up the report shortly after with some clarifications. According to their sources, the alleged infraction involves the recruitment of four-star quarterback [autotag]Jaden Rashada[/autotag], who ultimately chose the Arizona State Sun Devils over the Gators.
The Northern California product was a highly coveted recruit in the 2022 cycle, with Florida and the Miami Hurricanes battling the hardest over him. Rashada initially signed on with the ‘Canes before flipping on Nov. 10, 2022, to the Gators thanks to a contract that would have paid him $13.85 million over four years through the Gator Collective.
Rashada signed with the Orange and Blue during the early signing period but had cold feet about the arrangement less than a month later, leading to him requesting his release from his letter of intent.
It appears that not everything was kosher with that deal.
According to a pair of sources familiar with The Athletic, the hangup appears to be reportedly related to the role of Florida staff member Marcus Castro-Walker, who is listed on the school’s website as director of player engagement and NIL. Booster Hugh Hathcock, who pledged $12.6 million to Florida’s athletic department in April 2022 and later launched the Gator Guard collective, is also under investigation.
The latter posted a series of tweets leading up to Rashada’s commitment, which could serve as a breadcrumb trail back to his involvement.
“We have been and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA,” Florida senior associate athletic director Steve 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.”
The Gators are not the only football program in the Sunshine State team dealing with NCAA issues. Florida State Seminoles were sanctioned for NIL violations last week, which included fines, probation and scholarship reductions.
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