Vanderbilt football's Diego Pavia files shocking lawsuit against NCAA

11/09/2024 08:51 AM

Following his recent injury, Vanderbilt football quarterback Diego Pavia has sued the NCAA. The senior Commodore alleges that NCAA rules that count JUCO seasons towards NCAA eligibility & that prohibit redshirts from being used after an athlete has played four years at an NCAA school violate antitrust law. He alleges the rules cause athletes to miss out on NIL money, per Mit Winter on X, formerly Twitter.

Pavia was honored as the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, after throwing for 2,973 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Diego Pavia has sued the NCAA.

He alleges NCAA rules that count juco seasons towards NCAA eligibility & that prohibit redshirts from being used after an athlete has played 4 years at an NCAA school violate antitrust law.

He alleges the rules cause athletes to miss out on NIL $. pic.twitter.com/Oq8kXfPgMo

— Mit Winter (@WinterSportsLaw) November 9, 2024

Pavia has recorded 1,677 yards and 15 touchdowns for Vanderbilt this season, after transferring from New Mexico State over the offseason. He also played two years at New Mexico Military Institute before playing two seasons at NMS. The complaint asks the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee to rule that the NCAA's junior college bylaws are a violation of the Sherman Act and asks that Pavia be given at least one more year of NCAA eligibility to match the four Division I years allowed, per Chris Vannini of The Athletic.

"Athletes playing football outside of the NCAA monopoly have no meaningful opportunity to profit off their name, image, or likeness," the complaint states. "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."

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