Six former Florida State basketball players sued Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton on Monday, alleging he failed to make good on a promise to get each of them $250,000 in name, image and likeness compensation.

The plaintiffs — Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley — filed suit in Leon County Circuit Court. Their attorney, Fort Lauderdale-based Darren Heitner, shared the 20-page complaint with The Associated Press. Yahoo Sports first reported the case.

The former players allege Hamilton promised them the money from his “business partners.” The lawsuit says they walked out of a practice last season over the missed payments and intended to boycott a Feb. 17 game against Duke. They ended up playing — the Seminoles lost 76-67 — amid a guarantee from Hamilton that they would be paid but never were, according to the suit.

“Upon learning recently of the allegations made by former men’s basketball athletes, the university has worked diligently to determine what transpired last season,” Florida State said in a statement. “Though our inquiry is not yet complete, at this point we know of no unfulfilled commitments by FSU in terms of scholarships or other appropriate benefits or the Rising Spear Collective relative to NIL payments owed to the athletes.

“We support Coach Hamilton’s right to defend himself against these allegations and look forward to an expeditious resolution of this matter.”

The complaint includes multiple text-message exchanges between players and some between players and Hamilton.

UCLA women stay No. 1; Auriemma ties VanDerveer

UConn coach Geno Auriemma moved into a tie with Tara VanDerveer for the most appearances with one school in the women’s basketball AP Top 25 as the Huskies remained seventh in the poll Monday.

Auriemma has now led UConn to 627 appearances in the poll in his 40 years at the school, matching VanDerveer’s mark at Stanford before her retirement. She also had Ohio State ranked 27 times when the Hall of Fame coach was in charge of that school before joining the Cardinal and holds the overall record by a coach for appearances in the poll.

After a week where many schools played only a single game, UCLA, South Carolina and Notre Dame remained the top three teams and the first 18 schools were unchanged. The Bruins, Gamecocks and Irish all had routs in their lone games of the week, winning by an average of nearly 41 points. Every school in the country was off last week until Friday — a chance to recharge for the three-month sprint to the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee men remain No. 1 after quiet week

Tennessee remains No. 1 after a quiet holiday week in the AP Top 25.

The Volunteers received 41 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday. No. 2 Auburn had 20 first-place votes, with Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounding out the top five.

The top 13 teams remained unchanged following a week in which 12 ranked teams didn’t play.

College football

Gophers lose McWilliams to transfer portal

Gophers redshirt freshman receiver T.J. McWilliams is headed into the NCAA transfer portal, a source confirmed to the Pioneer Press on Monday.

McWilliams played in three games during the 2024 season, but did not record a catch. The Indianapolis native redshirted and did not play in a game in 2023.

McWilliams was a three-star recruit coming out of North Central High School and was selected for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Minnesota has had 10 total players from the 2024 team enter the portal, but only one — offensive tackle Phillip Daniels — played more than 100 snaps during the regular season.

— Andy Greder

Hockey

Stars fined for practice during Christmas break

The Dallas Stars were fined $100,000 by the National Hockey League on Monday for an optional practice session during the mandatory Christmas break that was attended by several young players.

That session the day after Christmas was in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. Any sort of on-ice activity or travel for games is prohibited on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the 26th.

Stars coach Pete DeBoer mentioned before Friday’s game, their first after that three-day break, that he was at the team’s practice arena on Thursday, the day after Christmas. He said they “had an optional, and of course, the young guys all show up for the optionals, like they’re supposed to do.”

DeBoer acknowledged Saturday he may have made a mistake by providing ice for players to skate during the break. He also then described it as “voluntary ice” instead of a scheduled optional practice.

baseball

Sasaki may visit 1 or 2 teams before decision

Prized Japanese free agent Roki Sasaki may visit one or two teams before deciding which club he wants to sign with.

Sasaki’s agent, Joel Wolfe, said Monday that 20 teams expressed interest in the 23-year-old right-hander, who listened this month to presentations from clubs with a two-hour limit at the office of Wasserman Media Group in Los Angeles.

Sasaki returned to Japan and is considering how he wants to proceed ahead of the signing window, which runs from Jan. 15-23. Wolfe said Sasaki is likely to narrow the field but might meet with one or two more clubs.

BRIEFLY

hockey >> Maxim Strbak scored 2:55 into overtime to lead Slovakia to a 5-4 win over Kazakhstan on Monday at the world junior hockey championship.

basketball >> Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has a sprained right shoulder and is considered week to week.

basketball >> Atlanta Hawks forward Larry Nance Jr. will undergo surgery for a broken bone in his right hand.

— From news services