USC and former player Chad Baker-Mazara agreed Friday 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.
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 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.”
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. At the time, the Trojans were 18-11, had lost five consecutive games and were trending toward the wrong side of the bubble. They had two regular-season games remaining, lost them and then lost their first game in the Big Ten tournament, failing to make the NCAA Tournament.
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.
The news of the settlement was first reported by Los Angeles Times reporter Ryan Kartje on X. The Trojans opened the season Monday with a 95-63 win over Milwaukee. Musselman is in his third season at USC.
