Diego Pavia wants another year of eligibility and is taking the NCAA to court to get it.
The Vanderbilt quarterback filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in federal court on Friday, claiming the organization’s rules on the eligibility of former junior college athletes violate antitrust rules. You can read the full lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, here.
Pavia is currently in his final year of college eligibility while playing for the Commodores. He began his college career at New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college, and transferred to New Mexico State after two seasons. He played two more seasons for the Aggies before landing at Vanderbilt.
At the most basic level, Pavia’s lawsuit argues that a number of NCAA statutes, such as the five-year eligibility clock and redshirt rules, unfairly limit the market for former junior college players.
Junior colleges are not part of the NCAA, but rather the National Junior College Athletic Association. The athletes can earn NIL money, but Pavia’s legal team notes that the financial options are extremely limited compared to Division I sports. So they claim that by giving players only three years of eligibility after two JUCO years, the NCAA is illegally limiting their earning potential.
The lawsuit addresses a number of alleged imbalances in the NCAA’s frequently changing rulebook, such as allowing athletes to start their eligibility clock when they enter a two-year institution even if they are not playing. It specifically complains that Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel are not only allowed to compete but start for their teams within five seasons due to the extension of COVID-19, a benefit Pavia did not get at NMMI.
The gist of the argument:
Despite what the NCAA claims, the JUCO Eligibility Limitation Bylaws prevent college athletes from improving their economic opportunities, personal growth, and well-being with NIL opportunities, through a full four-year college playing experience, a freedom afforded to all athletes who enroll with NCAA Division 1 affiliates as freshmen, but not for junior college football player transfers. This restriction violates the Sherman Act because it has direct anticompetitive effects that harm college football players and consumers of college football.
In essence, the JUCO Eligibility Limitation Bylaws amount to little more than an agreement to limit the amount of time athletes can play Division I football because they have chosen to attend a non-NCAA institution before transferring to a Division I NCAA college. The same restrictions are not imposed on athletes who choose to defer admission to an NCAA Division I college to attend prep school, serve in the military or even compete professionally in another sport.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction preventing the NCAA from enforcing rules it says violate antitrust laws and barring Pavia from one or even two more years of eligibility at Vanderbilt. Pavia turns 24 in April.
Pavia’s move is interesting on a number of levels thanks to the brutal string of losses the NCAA has suffered in court over its governance in recent years. It’s unclear what his chances are in court, but a win would further limit the NCAA’s authority over student-athletes.
In statements to The Athletic, Pavia said he needed help quickly to negotiate with Vanderbilt’s NIL collective:
“I would like to return to Vanderbilt next year but need time to negotiate NIL deals before the transfer portal opens,” Pavia said in a statement through his lawyers. “If the transfer portal opens before I can complete negotiations with Anchor Impact (Vanderbilt’s collective), I will be caught between giving up on those negotiations, or forgoing potential opportunities at other colleges that may recruit other quarterbacks from the transfer portal before I can come in. ”
Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea also released a statement praising Pavia but noting what he would have to do if the court did not grant the injunction:
“Diego is a strong leader and great player for the Vanderbilt program and I would love to have him back next year. However, I cannot leave the team and the program in the dark while Diego engages in a lengthy process. Unless and until Diego gets a court ruling in his favor, I will have to continue drafting a roster without him.
Pavia has reached a level of folk heroism this season thanks to Vanderbilt’s historic victories over Alabama and Auburn, which the lawsuit specifically references. He has most notably tortured Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, beating him twice before during his time at New Mexico State.
