Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was granted an injunction on Wednesday that could bring significant change to college athletics and another blow to the NCAA's status quo.
Judge William L. Campbell, Jr., ruled Wednesday that Pavia can begin preparations for the 2025 season after the NCAA's existing rules would have exhausted his eligibility. Pavia played two seasons at New Mexico Military Institute, two at New Mexico State, and then this current season at Vanderbilt. Pavia argued that the NCAA should not be allowed to count Pavia's New Mexico Military Institute years against him, since NMMI is not an NCAA institution.
While not a binding ruling, Judge Campbell does not disagree. He wrote Wednesday that the NCAA's argument for counting junior college years toward an athlete's eligibility clock "falls flat."
Pavia's lawyers said he stands to make $1 million at Vanderbilt or another school in 2025. While not official, Wednesday's injunction allows him to begin negotiations to play next season.
“While the Court’s ruling does not restrict where Diego can play next season, he loves Vanderbilt and Coach Lea,” Ryan Downton, Pavia's lawyer, said in a statement. “So long as he receives an appropriate NIL package, I expect to see him in the black and gold for as long as he has eligibility remaining and Jerry Kill and Tim Beck are coaching in Nashville.”
Wednesday's ruling is about much more than a single player potentially gaining another year of eligibility.
Just as a court ruling ended the NCAA's ability to enforce its transfer rules, and a separate ruling ended the NCAA's ability to enforce its NIL policy, the Pavia case could end the NCAA's ability to enforce its eligibility rules. If Pavia can return in 2025, why not 2026? And if Pavia can play two years for a 2-year school and four more for a 4-year school, why not everyone else? And if that's the case, how can the NCAA enforce its eligibility rules on anyone at all?