Month: December 2024

Six former Florida State basketball players have sued Seminoles’ head coach Leonard Hamilton for missing NIL payments that total $250,000 per player.

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger first reported the story, noting that the legal complaint (filed in Florida’s Leon County circuit court) states that Hamilton was being sued over unpaid promises of NIL compensation that total $1.5 million, and the former FSU players acknowledging hat they boycotted a practice last season over the missed NIL payments.

Darin Green Jr., Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears, Cam’Ron Fletcher, De’Ante Green and Jalen Warley are the players who allege in a lawsuit that Hamilton promised them $250,000 in NIL money, which was never received. The former players included text message evidence of their conversations with Hamilton and Will Cowen, an executive of one of Florida State’s NIL collectives( which traditionally raises NIL money and oversees payments). The lawsuit states that Hamilton promised each player the funds from his “business partners.”

Florida State is off to a 9-4 start this season, starting ACC play 0-2 under Hamilton. None of the players pursuing legal action against Hamilton are still with the Seminoles.

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The New York Jets are beginning to interview applicants for their vacant head coaching spot, replacing Robert Saleh, who was fired in October. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich took over as interim head coach after Saleh was fired.

The team is reportedly set to interview two candidates in the coming weeks, including former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera (Rivera coached the Panthers from 2011-2019, and spent four years with Washington before being fired in 2023.) Rivera was a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year (2013, 2015) after leading the Panthers to 12-4 and 15-1 finishes. He led his teams to the playoffs five times in 13 seasons across the two franchises, and in 2015, he led Carolina to Super Bowl 50 (where they were defeated by the Denver Broncos).

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Rivera is scheduled to interview with the Jets this week: “The #Jets are scheduled to interview Ron Rivera for their head coaching job this week, per sources. In 13 seasons with Carolina and Washington, Rivera made the playoffs five times, including an appearance in Super Bowl 50. The first of many HC interviews to come in NYJ’s search.”

In addition, former Jets coach Rex Ryan said Monday on ESPN New York that he will be interviewing for head coaching gig, and that he expects to speak with the team abut the spot after the regular season is over. Ryan coached the Jets from 2009-2014 and spent two seasons coaching the Buffalo Bills. He led the Jets to two playoff appearances — the last time that the Jets made the playoffs.  Ryan has not coached since being fired from the Bills in 2016, instead joining ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown as an analyst in 2017.

The Jets are currently 4-12 and will play their final game of the year next weekend against the Miami Dolphins.

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Philadelphia Eagles’ RB Saquon Barkley became the ninth running back in NFL history to reach 2,000 rushing yards in a single season on Sunday.

Barkley’s accomplishment came in the forth quarter of the Eagles 41-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys that clinched the NFC East division title for the Eagles, with a 23-yard run to the Dallas 23 put him at 167 yards for the game and 2,005 for the season.

The game also marked Barkley’s 11th with 100 rush yards this season, the most by any player in their first season with a team in NFL history. The 27-year-old’s previous career-high rushing total was 1,312 yards in 2022, where he averaged 4.4 yards per carry and 82 rushing yards per game that season. As a rookie in 2018, he averaged 5 yards per carry and 81.7 yards per game en route to 1,307 yards on the ground.

With Sunday’s total (31 carries for 167 yards), Barkley has averaged 125.3 rushing yards per game on 5.8 yards per carry, by far the best totals of his career.

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The Los Angeles Lakers have traded D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, the teams announced Sunday.

ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote on X:  “The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed on a trade sending D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, sources told ESPN. The Lakers land a versatile, 3-and-D addition with Dorian Finney-Smith, who is shooting a career-high 44% from 3-point land. L.A. also creates salary and luxury tax flexibility, saving $15 million. Nets receive draft capital and clean salaries in return.”

Russell, 28, has been inconsistent this season, and was recently benched. The second overall pick in the 2015 draft, Russell averaged 12.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 26.3 minutes per game this season. The point guard now returns to the Nets where he played for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, which is also where he earned his only All-Star selection.

The Lakers sent their own second-round picks in 2027, 2030 and 2031 to the Nets, and acquire the versatile 3-and-D player in Finney-Smith. The 31-year-old averaged 10.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game this season for the Nets.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement: “With this trade, we are thrilled to add the physicality, toughness and elite shooting that Dorian Finney-Smith will bring to our core. We also greatly value the playmaking of Shake Milton. We are excited for our fans to get both of these players out on the court.” Pelinka added: “We want to thank D’Angelo for his second stint with us, where we celebrated some great moments and accomplishments on the court together. We want to wish him and Maxwell Lewis well in their future endeavors with the Brooklyn Nets.”

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