According to reports, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia filed a lawsuit against the NCAA over NIL earnings and his own eligibility.
Pavia’s lawsuit centers around the NCAA’s current eligibility rules for junior college transfers. Additionally, he is attempting to make a case on the potential earning dollars from NIL deals that athletes are missing due to the NCAA’s aforementioned rules on eligibility.
The senior quarterback and graduate transfer from New Mexico State filed the suit and is seeking a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. Currently the NCAA is preventing him from returning for another season in the 2025-2026 calendar year based on his first two years of junior college at New Mexico Military Institute.
According to the official complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee, Pavia, and his legal team stated the following –
“Specifically, the JUCO Eligibility Bylaws limit athletes who begin their college careers at 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 complaint also reportedly included a declaration of support from Vanderbilt head football coach Clark Lea.
Vanderbilt plays host to South Carolina Saturday in Nashville.
