NCAA Eligibility Limitations: How Diego Pavia Seeks to Change the Game Off the Field for Junior College Athletes
By Zach Cogan; Photo Credit: George Walker IV/AP Photo
Diego Pavia, the face of Vanderbilt’s revamped football program and the quarterback who defeated Alabama in a historic NCAA win, is now seeking to accomplish another game-changing feat—but this time, it is off the field.[1] Pavia filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville on November 8, 2024, to “request an injunction that would prevent the NCAA from enforcing its bylaws regarding junior college player limits and grant Pavia two more seasons of [NCAA] eligibility.”[2] Despite some mentioning of the lawsuit aiding in Pavia’s potential pursuit towards his NFL aspirations, the suit’s primary focus is on him being disadvantaged by the NCAA bylaws that prevent him and other similarly situated athletes who have competed in junior college to profit off their name, image, and likeness.[3]
According to the complaint, under NCAA Bylaw 12.8. “an athlete has five years of eligibility to play four seasons of ‘intercollegiate competition’ in his or her chosen sport,” but under NCAA Bylaw 12.02.06, for each season of competition at a junior college, one of those five years of NCAA eligibility are deducted, which Pavia contests has no pro-competitive justification.[4] The subsequent impact, as alleged by Pavia, is a reduction in the ability of Pavia and others to “showcase athletic skills” by competing in the “highest level of amateur athletic competition,” Division I College Football.[5]
Pavia makes his position clear: junior college athletes are not awarded the same exposure as the Power 4 conferences and are subsequently not granted the ability to equally enjoy the full five years of benefits—from an NIL perspective—upon entering the NCAA once leaving the National Junior College Athletic Association (NCJAA), which is unaffiliated with the NCAA.[6] Contrary to athletes who delay their entry to a Division I NCAA college for reasons including attending a prep school and do not receive the NCAA eligibility limitations, former junior college athletes are treated materially different.[7] Thus, the court may need to properly define the NCJAA within the context of the current NCAA rules—likely in a way that presents a compelling reason for why their current eligibility limitations do not present anticompetitive effects on Pavia and others on their NIL earning capabilities.[8]
Further, in National College Athletic Association v. Alston—the landmark decision leading to the NCAA adopting a policy to permit NCAA college athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness—the Court affirmed the district court’s injunction towards relaxing certain restrictions to achieve procompetitive benefits.[9] By Pavia asking for the granting of a “permanent injunction enjoining Defendant (NCAA) from continuing to violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act by enforcing the competition limitations in NCAA Bylaws,” he seeks the ability to gain an extra year or two of eligibility—something he argues will create demand in the NCAA by him and other similar situated athletes being able to compete.[10] As Alston shows, the granting of an injunction for a procompetitive benefit in the NCAA is not new; thus, Pavia’s case will test the courts’ tolerance for a continued expansion of NIL benefits.[11]
Zach Cogan is currently a 2L at Vanderbilt Law School. He is from Armonk, New York and graduated from the University of Chicago in 2023 with a double major in Economics and Film.
[1] ESPN News Service, Vanderbilt upsets Alabama for first win vs. No. 1 team, ESPN (Oct. 5, 2024), https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41629929/vanderbilt-upsets-alabama-first-win-vs-no-1-team; Mark Schlabach, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia suing NCAA over eligibility rules, ESPN (Nov. 9, 2024), https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/42286584/vanderbilt-qb-diego-pavia-suing-ncaa-eligibility-rules.
[2] See id.
[3] See Complaint for Injunctive Relief at 4, 34, 51, 83, Diego Pavia v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, No. 3:24-cv-01336 (M.D. Tenn. Nov. 8, 2024).
[4] See id. at 21, 24, 26.
[5] See id. at 47.
[6] See id. at 18, 51.
[7] See id. at 21, 24, 52.
[8] See id. at 57.
[9] See Michelle Brutlag Hosick, NCAA adopts interim name, image and likeness policy, NCAA (June 30, 2021), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2021/6/30/ncaa-adopts-interim-name-image-and-likeness-policy.aspx; Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n v. Alston, 594 U.S. 69, 71 (2021).
[10] See Complaint for Injunctive Relief, supra note 3, at 34, 85.
[11] See Alston, 594 U.S. at 71.