Jaden Rashada addresses NIL, decision to sign with Arizona State over Florida
Jaden Rashada has already set the college football world on fire multiple times before ever even taking his first snap.
The star quarterback recruit originally committed to Florida, but was released from his National Letter of Intent following a dispute over the legitimacy of an NIL deal he signed prior to joining the Gators, which was reportedly in the range of $13 million over four years.
After the fallout fanned the flames of NIL’s biggest detractors and the affect it’s having college athletics, one important question remained, where would one of the top quarterback recruits in the country take his talents? That answer came in the form of Arizona State, as the Sun Devils convinced Rashada to join their rebuild.
Preparing to let his on-field play do the talking, Rashada joined Barstool Sports’ Bussin’ with the Boys with Will Compton and Taylor Lewan, where he explained what happened at Florida, and the subsequent fallout.
“What happened at Florida was, everybody knows the headlines but from my perspective, I mean, it was, it’s just new to everybody,” explained Rashada, regarding NIL. “It’s new to a lot of people. It’s new to everybody, so you’ve got a lot of people you know, included in there. I mean, it’s hard to explain.”
When asked to elaborate by Compton, Rashada simply stated that it basically came down to trust, and he didn’t feel that in Gainesville.
“Yeah, right. I think a lot of that just comes into trust,” added the star recruit. “All that stuff aside, you know what I mean, when you’re playing with somebody you’ve got to trust everything around you.
“It just came down to trust, and that’s why I ended up here (at Arizona State) to be honest.”
Jaden Rashada on decision to join Arizona State: ‘It just meant more to be here’
As for his new start at Arizona State, Rashada explained that the program meant a great deal to him in his heart of hearts, remembering his father suit up for the Sun Devils as an impressionable young lad.
“There was a lot of question marks going on like, but honestly how I ended up here, you know my dad played here, like ’94 to ’98 or somewhere around there. So I always grew up around the program,” said Rashada. “This was like the first college team I knew. I was just figuring it out.
“It just meant more to be here, and that’s why I like Coach [Kenny] Dillingham, he’s an Arizona guy. He’s just like, trying to fill the room with people who want to be here.”
Meanwhile, On3’s NIL expert Pete Nakos believes that Rashada made the best decision for himself and his football career, and he’s still doing well in the NIL department anyways, for good measure. Still, it’s a cautionary tale for future similar cases involving high-profile recruits.
“Jaden Rashada made the decision any of us would make in a similar situation, he started fresh. The Athletic reported it, and On3 has since confirmed, but his initial contract with the Gator Collective was worth $13.85 million. That’s an astronomical number. The NIL collective obviously voided the contract after it was clear they didn’t have the money,” stated Nakos. “From everything I’ve heard, he’s gelled well with his new program out in the desert.
“He has a real shot to start this fall. And his situation at Florida has become almost become a precautionary tale of the falsehoods of NIL promises.”
Nevertheless, Lewan put things all in a comedic perspective, believing that as a young wide-eyed recruit out of high school, hearing numbers like what Rashada was told would’ve caused him to defecate.
“That is an interesting financial decision to make. When you are in high school, and you’re seeing the possibility of $14 million, brother, I would s— my pants,” stated Lewan. “There were no NIL deals at all. Like when we played in college, we bring up the same thing all the time, we could get a bagel but no cream cheese. Like all the NCAA rules were just wild. Things just seem like the Wild West right now.”
Moving forward, it’ll be fascinating to watch Jaden Rashada’s collegiate career. Arizona State sure is happy to have him though, and the Sun Devils could build something special around him moving forward.