The University of Southern California and former men's basketball player Chad Baker-Mazara have agreed to settle a lawsuit in which he claimed the school still owed him name, image and likeness payments.
“USC is pleased to resolve this matter and will have no further comment,” the university said in a statement, as reported by The Athletic.
Baker-Mazara sought NIL payments and damages after USC dismissed him from the team following a Feb. 28 loss to Nebraska. The lawsuit alleged that USC dismissed him when it “became likely that the Trojans would not make the NCAA Tournament.” Baker-Mazara alleged that coach Eric Musselman directed a profanity-laced, racially charged tirade at him, telling Baker-Mazara to “Go back to the f—ing Dominican Republic! Nobody wants you here!! F— you,” The Athletic's CJ Moore reported.
"The lawsuit stated that Baker-Mazara, who is from the Dominican Republic, took those words to be racist and discriminatory, akin to telling an African American 'to go back to Africa,' ” Moore wrote Tuesday, four days after the settlement was reached Oct. 30.
On the morning after the Nebraska loss, Baker-Mazara’s representatives were informed that Baker-Mazara had been dismissed from the team and was barred from accessing the team facility, Moore reported. At the time, the Trojans had lost five consecutive games had two regular-season games remaining. USC lost both and then lost their first game in the Big Ten Conference tournament and failed to make the NCAA Tournament field.
Related: Former Basketball Player Sues USC Over NIL Contract, Claims Coach Racially Harassed Him
Per Moore's reporting, the lawsuit stated that on March 13, USC’s NIL collective “purported to terminate the Agreements pursuant to the purported morals clause contained in the respective Agreements.” The morals clause allowed termination of a contract if an athlete committed acts that were “immoral, deceptive, scandalous or obscene” or acts that “could adversely affect USC, HOV, the USC athletic department, the USC men’s basketball program, or any related parties or entities.”
The lawsuit alleged that Baker-Mazara never received an explanation as to how he allegedly violated the morals clause.
In addition to the money left in his agreement, Baker-Mazara sought damages for what he said was harm to his NBA Draft stock. Having played for five different college teams, Baker-Mazara is currently competing for the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League.
Los Angeles Times reporter Ryan Kartje was first to break news of the settlement on X, but its exact terms were not reported.
