Vandy QB Diego Pavia wins injunction allowing him to play D-I football in 2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Diego Pavia reacted to a federal judge granting his preliminary injunction Wednesday allowing the quarterback to play the 2025 season the same way he celebrated upsetting then-No. 1 Alabama in October.
“VANDY WE (expletive) TURNT,” Pavia wrote on social media with a 100 emoji.
U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell also told the NCAA that the organization cannot take any action against Vanderbilt or any other university that Pavia plays a fifth season for next year in his order issuing the injunction Wednesday. Campbell had asked attorneys at a hearing Dec. 4 both how quickly they could be ready for trial and the transfer portal window, which closes Dec. 28.
“With Pavia as quarterback, Vanderbilt has seen historic success — Vanderbilt beat both the University of Alabama and Auburn University — and the team will be playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2018,” Campbell wrote in an opinion issued with the injunction. “Those familiar with college football appreciate this remarkable accomplishment. Pavia estimates that he could earn over $1 million in NIL compensation in the 2025-26 season.”
Campbell noted current NCAA bylaws had made Pavia ineligible to play Division I football in 2025 simply because the quarterback started his career at a junior college.
The judge wrote he was not persuaded by the NCAA arguments on Division I eligibility limiting athletes who start at junior colleges to three or four years. He noted the NCAA does not start the eligibility clock for prep school athletes even when they compete athletically against junior colleges or other schools that count as “collegiate institutions.”
“Given the different treatment of other student-athletes with comparable or more post-secondary experience, the NCAA’s assertion that the eligibility rules are necessary to prevent age and experience disparities and preserve the quality of experience for student-athletes falls flat,” Campbell wrote in his ruling.
Campbell also wrote how the NCAA's eligibility rules have evolved from when freshmen weren't allowed to play to adding a redshirt rule. The judge also wrote that Pavia has a "strong likelihood of success” under the Sherman Act at trial because the organization's rules limiting junior college eligibility are “restraints on trade with substantial anticompetitive effects.”
Pavia filed his lawsuit seeking an additional season Nov. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville. He has applied to Vanderbilt's masters’ program for legal studies starting in January in case he won the injunction.
Attorney Ryan Downton of the Texas Trial Group said Pavia is “very thankful” for the expedited ruling by the court.
“The NCAA has not yet adjusted to the NIL era and continues to impose unfair restrictions on college athletes,” Downton said in a statement. "The Court’s ruling is another step in leveling the playing field to allow college athletes to share in the billions of dollars earned due to their labor. While the ruling is limited to Pavia, we believe it may open the door for other former junior college players to obtain an additional year of eligibility without filing a lawsuit.”
Pavia did not get an offer from a Football Bowl Subdivision school coming out of Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He went to New Mexico Military Institute in 2020, which the NCAA excluded from counting toward eligibility because of the pandemic. Pavia led the junior college to the 2021 national championship. He went to New Mexico State in 2022 and won 10 games in 2023.
The Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year then followed his head coach, Jerry Kill, and offensive coordinator Tim Beck to Vanderbilt this offseason.
Pavia is a big reason why Vanderbilt is 6-6. The Commodores play Georgia Tech on Dec. 27 in the Birmingham Bowl — the program's first since 2018. The Commodores wound up ranked twice in the AP Top 25 and that win over then-No. 1 Alabama snapped a 60-game winless skid over over AP top-5 teams.
“I couldn’t be happier for Diego to be able to extend his college career," Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said in a statement Wednesday night. "This is great news for him and for our game. I am excited for what lies ahead for Diego and Vanderbilt football.”
Downton said Wednesday’s ruling does not restrict where Pavia plays in 2025. Pavia was on the field two days ago as the Commodores prepare for their bowl game in video Vanderbilt shared on social media.
“He loves Vanderbilt and Coach Lea,” Downton said. "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.
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