Marcus Castro-Walker's lawyer makes statement on ‘baseless’ Jaden Rashada lawsuit

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The attorney for Marcus Castro-Walker has released a statement on his behalf after Florida’s former director of NIL and player engagement was sued by Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada.

The one-time UF signee filed a 37-page complaint last Tuesday against Castro-Walker, Florida coach Billy Napier and longtime UF booster Hugh Hathcock for multiple counts of fraud and tortious interference.

Castro-Walker’s attorney is civil trial lawyer Halley B. Lewis, who graduated the University of Florida College of Law in 1990. Lewis has been a strong supporter of UF’s NIL efforts in recent years.

“I am proud to be representing Marcus Castro-Walker in defense of the baseless lawsuit filed by Jaden Rashada. Marcus has no comment at this time, but he looks forward to clearing his name by having the true facts come to light soon,” Lewis said in a statement on X.

“Marcus worked countless hours at UF in his position as Director of Player Engagement and NIL, and he was fully aware of all NCAA rules regarding recruiting. He willingly cooperated fully with the NCAA investigation, and no sanctions were ever imposed.

“Marcus was loved by all of the UF football players, many of whom credit him with their growth and development on and off the field. He deserves nothing but praise and thanks from UF and its fans for all of his hard work in making the UF program better.”

The lawsuit, which stems from Rashada’s $13.85 million NIL deal gone bad, alleges that Napier promised Rashada $1 million if he signed his National Letter of Intent on Signing Day.

The lawsuit alleges Castro-Walker emphasized Napier’s promise, telling Rashada’s agent that Napier would “get it done” and emphasizing Napier’s power as a head coach.

The lawsuit also alleges that Castro-Walker “increased pressure on Jaden to sign by telling him if he did not do it right away Coach Napier might pull back his scholarship offer.”

Castro-Walker was terminated by the UAA in late January as the NCAA investigated Rashada’s recruitment to UF. On March 1, however, the NCAA halted investigations into booster-backed collectives and NIL deals after a federal judge’s ruling.

Pressed for what happened with Castro-Walker at Florida — a matter now taking on even more import in light of Rashada’s recent legal filing — during the SEC spring meetings this week, Napier demurred.

“I’m not going to answer specific questions,” Napier said. “I think it’s important for everybody to understand that I can’t comment due to the litigation. But I do have confidence in our legal team, and I am comfortable with my actions and I’m thankful for the universities support. We’re gonna keep it at that and kind of let the process take its course.”

Castro-Walker was hired by Napier in December 2021 and his job title was the first of its kind in college athletics. He now works for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

“Marcus has been fantastic,” Napier said in February 2023. “Much like all of college football, he’s in a position that’s a new market relative to working hard, researching and keeping up with what’s going on out there. Helping out players with all the situations they encounter. There’s a big education piece here — really a new market that I think is being manipulated and we’ve got to do our job relative to helping our players not get taken advantage of contractually. There are a ton of logistics that go into this, and Marcus is doing a good job leading the charge.”