Jaden Rashada and the University of Florida apparently were not a match made in college football paradise.
According to reports, the five-star quarterback from Pittsburg High has asked Florida to release him from the letter of intent he signed last month after a $13 million Name, Image and Likeness deal Rashada made with an independent Florida fundraising arm, Gator Collective, was terminated.
Florida is not required to grant its prized recruit a release.
But given the national attention this story has generated and the potential blowback that playing hardball with Rashada could have on future high-profile recruits, Florida probably would be smart to cut ties with the quarterback.
If it does not, Rashada could appeal to the NLI Policy and Review Committee.
Worst-case, the quarterback would lose one year of eligibility and must serve one year of residence at his next NLI institution, according to the NLI website.
If Rashada, 19, is freed by Florida, what are his next steps?
He completed his coursework at Pittsburg last month and was planning to enroll at Florida last week.
Now?
With the traditional signing period two weeks away, there suddenly could be a five-star quarterback on the market.
But will Rashada find a NIL deal close to the millions he was reportedly going to receive at the University of Miami before he flipped in November to Florida for what was supposed to be an even larger pile of cash?
According to the recruiting website 247Sports.com, Arizona State, Washington and Cal could be landing spots for the quarterback who led Pittsburg to a state championship game last fall.
Rashada’s dad, Harlen, was a defensive back at Arizona State in the early 1990s and the school’s new coach, Kenny Dillingham, tried to lure Rashada to Oregon when he was the offensive coordinator in Eugene.
Washington hasn’t signed a quarterback in the past two recruiting classes, according to 247Sports, and coach Kalen DeBoer could remind Rashada that he’d be throwing passes to his Pittsburg teammate, Rashid Williams, along with another Bay Area star, Tennyson’s Taeshaun Lyons. Williams signed in December, and Lyons is expected to sign in two weeks.
Cal was among Rashada’s six finalists when the quarterback selected Florida.
It’s hard to imagine Cal ponying up a NIL deal similar to what the Florida schools were reportedly offering Rashada, but the Berkeley campus is in the quarterback’s backyard.
Rashada’s other finalists were Oregon, Miami, Mississippi and Texas A&M.
