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Dan Murphy, ESPN Staff Writer
A federal judge in Tennessee granted an injunction Wednesday that allows Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia to pursue another year of eligibility and could represent another significant blow to the NCAA’s ability to enforce its own rules.
Pavia sued the NCAA in November, claiming the organization’s rule that counts a player’s time in junior college toward his overall years of NCAA eligibility is a violation of antitrust law that was unfairly limiting his ability to make money from his name, image and likeness.
Judge William Campbell’s decision Wednesday is not a final ruling on the case, but it prevents the NCAA from keeping Pavia out of college football until the case is resolved.
Pavia threw for 2,133 yards and 17 touchdowns in his first season at Vanderbilt, helping the Commodores to a 6-6 record with upset wins over No. 1 Alabama and Auburn. Pavia previously played two seasons at New Mexico State and another two years at a junior college in New Mexico.
“My Lawyers are legit!!” Pavia posted on X Wednesday night following the order’s release.
NCAA rules typically allow players a total of five years to play four seasons, but the current crop of college players have been granted an extra year on top of those limits due to the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic. Pavia argued in his initial complaint that the NCAA was unfairly limiting his ability to make money by counting his years in junior college — which is governed by a separate organization — against his eligibility.
“We’re not saying the NCAA can’t have eligibility requirements,” said Ryan Downton, Pavia’s attorney. “But a junior college season shouldn’t be the equivalent of an NCAA season when the junior college season has no meaningful opportunities to earn NIL, no television exposure. They take other athletes [who are playing somewhere outside of high school] and don’t hold those seasons against them.”
Downton cited junior hockey leagues and post-graduate prep school leagues where athletes compete after finishing high school without losing any of their eligibility.
The judge’s ruling Wednesday specifically addresses the NCAA bylaw that deals with junior college players. It does not restrict the NCAA from enforcing the rest of the restrictions it has in place on the number of years athletes can play a sport in college, but the limited injunction could signal that the court system sees the NCAA’s eligibility requirements as an illegal restraint. Campbell is the third judge in the past year to issue an injunction on NCAA rules due to concerns that they limit the athletes’ ability to maximize their earning potential.
NCAA lawyers argued in their response to Pavia’s lawsuit that a ruling in favor of the quarterback could have far-reaching implications.
“A mandatory injunction changing the status quo is not just about plaintiff, but rather stands to adversely disrupt the collegiate experiences and opportunities for tens of thousands of prospective and current student-athletes just as the next college football transfer window is opening,” the lawyers wrote.
In a statement Wednesday night, the NCAA said it was “disappointed” in the ruling and made an appeal to Congress.
“Altering the enforcement of rules overwhelmingly supported by NCAA member schools makes a shifting environment even more unsettled,” the statement read in part. “The NCAA is making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes, but a patchwork of state laws and court opinions make clear that partnering with Congress is essential to provide stability for the future of all college athletes.”
Before Wednesday’s ruling, Downton, Pavia’s attorney, told ESPN the quarterback tried all possible options to gain an NCAA waiver that would extend his eligibility before deciding to sue the association.