Jayden de Laura withdraws from new school in wake of sexual assault suit settlement
Jayden de Laura will not play for the Texas State football team and has withdrawn from the school.
The former Arizona quarterback announced his transfer to Texas State last week. The Bobcats announced his signing shortly after and he enrolled at the school. On Wednesday, Texas State said in a statement that de Laura will no longer join the football program.
That decision comes a week after multiple news outlets reported that de Laura settled a civil lawsuit in connection with a 2018 charge that he and a former teammate sexually assaulted a woman after a high school football game in Hawaii. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Following a report on the settlement by Texas State’s student newspaper, The University Star, the school issued a statement saying de Laura did not violate the school’s code of conduct and that he complied with school and NCAA policies in reporting what was allowed.
The records are sealed as the case was handled in juvenile court in Hawaii in 2018.
Texas State coach G.J. Kinne wrote in an email to The University Star that de Laura “never pled guilty or was convicted of criminal charges” and that the school spoke with former coaches at both Arizona and Washington State — where de Laura began his college career. Kinne said former coaches spoke highly of “how he has developed into the man he is today.” The statement concluded by saying Kinne looked forward to having de Laura serve as a leader for the Texas State program.
In light of de Laura’s decision to transfer to Texas State, students at the school had planned a protest for Friday. “The women of Texas State will not stand for the recruitment of a sexual assaulter,” a flyer promoting the gathering stated.
The quarterback and his former high school teammate had previously agreed to a financial settlement in the suit last year, but a judge rejected it in August 2023. The judge ruled that, because de Laura was now a college athlete earning money through NIL, the amount was too low.