Former Florida staffer Marcus Castro-Walker files motion to dismiss in Jaden Rashada suit

Representation for former Florida staffer Marcus Castro-Walker has filed a motion to dismiss the suit brought against coach Billy Napier and well-known UF booster Hugh Hathcock by Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada.

Filed by Rashada back in May, the one-time Florida quarterback commit claimed he was repeatedly lied to for him to flip his commitment from Miami to Florida. He also signed a four-year, $13.85 million contract with an NIL collective that was later voided.

Castro-Walker’s motion was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on Tuesday, looking for a dismissal. The former Florida director of NIL and player engagement was accused of fraud, punishing back Tuesday stating Rashada’s complaint did not include “sufficient allegations of fact, and therefore must be dismissed for all of the grounds stated herein.”

In the 18-page filing, Castro-Walker’s legal team called Rashada’s complaint as a “Harlan Coben novel.”

“Plaintiff’s Complaint reads like a Harlan Coben novel, replete with facts that lead the reader down an obvious path, only to have the reader caught completely off guard by an unexpected plot twist at the very end,” the motion reads.

Rashada sued on counts of fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent inducement, aiding and abetting fraud, civil conspiracy to commit fraud, negligent misrepresentations, tortious interference, aiding and abetting tortious interference and vicarious liability. The complaint is an unprecedented look into high-level NIL negotiations in college football.

Rashada tapped attorney Rusty Hardin as counsel. Hardin has built a reputation for working with athletes, with former clients including Warren Moon, Roger Clemens and Deshaun Watson. Rashada’s complaint states that false statements were allegedly made, including a $1 million payout he would receive for signing the National Letter of Intent.

Represented by Halley B. Lewis, Castro-Walker pushes back on the allegations that he didn’t want Rashada to land at Miami.

“The Complaint does a complete reversal and ends with Jaden suing Marcus Castro-Walker on the premise that Castro-Walker had never really wanted Jaden to attend UF and was only pretending to recruit Jaden in order to prevent him from attending the University of Miami and from receiving the accompanying $9.5 million in benefits,” the filing Tuesday states.

Castro-Walker’s attorney argues that the court must determine if sovereign immunity should be factored in, as he worked for Florida and the Florida Athletic Association when the alleged actions took place. Both are state agencies and subdivisions entitled to sovereign immunity.

The filing also argues no evidence was put forward in Rashada’s complaint.

“The simple truth is that overly-optimistic ‘promises’ are made every day in college football recruiting. Players are told all the time that they ‘will be starting by their sophomore season; or that they ‘will win the Heisman Trophy if they play in this offense’ or that they ‘will be a first-round NFL Draft pick if they attend this school,'” the filing reads. “Opening the doors of the federal courthouse to every college football player seeking injunctive relief or specific performance of an ‘oral contract’ when their dream doesn’t materialize would only lead to a class of plaintiffs larger than any mass tort action on record.”

Napier and Hathcock have yet to respond to the initial complaint.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated