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Jaden Rashada made headlines during his college recruiting last year, but the latest news is perhaps the most surprising. Rashada, a top quarterback from Pittsburg, Calif., has reportedly asked to be released from his Florida engagement this week after a school-affiliated fundraising group received a $13 million name, likeness and likeness agreement broke up with him.
Rashada, one of the top recruits in the Class of 2023, committed to Miami last June before a report claimed a prominent Hurricanes booster offered him a $9.5 million deal for the school. Rashada and the booster rejected the report.
The quarterback switched from Miami to Florida in November, reportedly influenced by a separate $13 million NIL deal. He agreed to the terms of the deal with Gator Collective, an independent “fan club” that gives money to Florida student athletes, and signed with the Gators on December 21.
Would a third consecutive title be a first for Georgia? That’s open for discussion.
In the weeks that followed, Rashada posed for photos with fellow Florida signers at the Under Armor All-America game in Orlando, and he and his father paid compliments to Florida coach Billy Napier in interviews. But Rashada, who was planning on enrolling early, didn’t arrive in Gainesville last week alongside the Gators’ 16 early enrollments, raising doubts about his future.
Rashada’s arrival was conditional on the $13 million deal to be paid over four years, according to the Associated Press, which also reported that the Gator Collective’s financial backing for that sum had failed. Gator Collective ended the agreement, and Florida coaches scramble to salvage Rashada’s engagement. The collective offered Rashada a lesser seven-figure sum, according to Athletic, but on Tuesday asked Florida to release him from their national memorandum of understanding.
Rashada was the lone quarterback in the 2023 Florida high school recruiting class, bringing much-needed depth to a position that had been depleted in recent months. Starter Anthony Richardson declared for the NFL draft last month, and backup Jalen Kitna was arrested on Nov. 30 on child pornography charges and released from the team two days later.
Ohio State transfer Jack Miller III started for Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 17, but Miller struggled and the Gators lost 30-3 to Oregon State. Rashada was expected to compete with recent Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz, one of the better-known signal callers to sign this offseason, after Mertz signed for Florida last month.