Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia Suing The NCAA For Another Year Of Eligibility, Hoping To Change JUCO Rules

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is suing the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility, which is centered around his time playing junior college and not being able to make money off of his NIL during this time period. 

The news was first reported by Chris Lee of VandySports.com on Friday evening. The attorney for Diego Pavia is arguing that since the NCAA counts any junior college seasons towards their eligibility clock, and that since they have no meaningful way to make money in the JUCO ranks, that he should be given another year of eligibility. 

The filing, which was filed in Middle Tennessee district court, is seeking that a judge issue a temporary restraining order that would allow Pavia to play an additional year of college football. All of this is tied to his time playing junior college football in 2020 and 2021. 

If the TRO is granted for Diego Pavia, it would only be for his case. But, seeing that the NCAA does not want to get involved in multiple different lawsuits, it would be easy to see the organization try to change a rule so that there aren't thousands of suits brought forth. 

In the court filing, Pavia's attorney, Ryan Downton argues that if you aren't playing within the NCAA structure, a player does not have the same opportunity to cash-in on his name, image and likeness. 

"Athletes playing football outside of the NCAA monopoly have no meaningful opportunity to profit off their name, image, or likeness. Even so, the JUCO eligibility Limitation Bylaws restrict the ability of athletes who begin their college football careers in junior colleges from having the same opportunity to profit from NIL as students who enter an NCAA Institution as freshmen. 

"Specifically, the JUCO Eligibility Bylaws limit athletes who begin their college careers at the junior colleges to only two or three seasons of NCAA Division I football, as opposed to the four seasons of competition (And NIL Compensation opportunities) available to all other NCAA Division I football players. The JUCO Eligibility Bylaways neither promote competition or benefit college athletes with respect to their impact on persons who attend junior college before transferring to NCAA schools." 

AUBURN, Ala. - Quarterback Diego Pavia of the Vanderbilt Commodores celebrates after defeating the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium on November 2, 2024. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

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Simply put, Diego Pavia is arguing that since JUCO schools do not fall underneath the NCAA banner, and since playing on that level counts against their eligibility clock, that the NCAA should allow all players who participate at that level to have all four years once they transfer to the next level. 

Speaking with Diego's Attorney Ryan Downton on Friday evening, he is hoping for a TRO to be granted before a hearing, so that he can go ahead and start negotiating with Vanderbilt for a return next season. Ryan Downton also thinks they will be granted a hearing in front of a judge in the next 2–3 weeks. 

The filing states that Diego Pavia is hoping the court will side with him, restoring freedom of economic opportunity for himself. 

"Pavia brings this action to put a stop to the unjustified anticompetitive restriction on universities who seek to compete for college athletes, and to restore freedom of economic opportunity for himself and other college football players."

The Vanderbilt quarterback is looking for an additional year, which will obviously lead to him making more money off his name, image and likeness. 

If a judge decides to side with this filing, it will change the way JUCO football is regulated and have a massive impact on the eligibility clock of players looking to participate for a full four-years at the Division I level. 

It was only a matter of time before rules like this were challenged in a courtroom, especially given where we are headed when it comes to revenue sharing and NIL.