Vanderbilt quarterback sues NCAA over eligibility rules

Diego Pavia is suing the NCAA.

The Vanderbilt quarterback is looking for an additional year or two of eligibility because, right now, the 23-year-old is listed as a senior.

Pavia is in his first season at Vandy after transferring from New Mexico State, where he started under center for two seasons with the Aggies.

Prior to that, he spent two seasons at the junior college level, playing quarterback for New Mexico Military Institute.

NCAA rules typically count JUCO seasons toward NCAA eligibility, but Pavia is looking for more years, according to The Athletic.

In the lawsuit, Pavia alleges that the rules cause athletes to miss out on name, image and likeness (NIL) money because junior college seasons count toward NCAA eligibility.

Pavia also claims that because the governing body counts junior college seasons towards eligibility and student-athletes are unable to redshirt after playing four years, NCAA rules violate antitrust law.

Pavia was the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 before transferring to Vandy.

But he had no FBS offers out of high school, which impacted his decision to go the JUCO route.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee, and Pavia is looking to obtain a temporary restraining order against the NCAA.

Pavia maintains that he’s being prevented from playing college football beyond the 2024 season.

“Athletes playing football outside of the NCAA monopoly have no meaningful opportunity to profit off their name, image, or likeness,” the complaint read. “Even so, JUCO Eligibility Limitation Bylaws restrict the ability of athletes who begin their college football careers in junior colleges from having the same opportunity to profit from NIL as students who enter an NCAA institution as freshmen.

“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.”

In a high-profile win over Alabama earlier this season, Pavia recorded 252 passing yards and two touchdowns while completing 16 of 20 passes.

The Commodores are 6-3 and bowl eligible.