NCAA criticizes ruling after Diego Pavia granted eligibility in 2025 through lawsuit decision

The NCAA issued a statement Wednesday night following a judge’s decision in Diego Pavia’s lawsuit. The Vanderbilt quarterback can get another year of eligibility in 2025 after the preliminary injunction, barring future legal challenges.

Pavia sued the NCAA in November over NIL and eligibility. He argued the two years he spent at the New Mexico Military Institute shouldn’t count toward his eligibility as he sought another season of college football.

Wednesday, Judge William Campbell sided with Pavia. He granted the preliminary injunction, paving the way for him to return to Vanderbilt in 2025. After the ruling came down, the NCAA expressed its disappointment.

“The NCAA is disappointed in today’s ruling and wants all student-athletes to maximize their name, image and likeness potential without depriving future student-athletes of opportunities,” the statement read. “Altering the enforcement of rules overwhelmingly supported by NCAA member schools makes a shifting environment even more unsettled.

“The NCAA is making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes, but a patchwork of state laws and court opinions make clear that partnering with Congress is essential to provide stability for the future of all college athletes.”

Diego Pavia started his career at the JUCO level for two years at the New Mexico Military Institute and played three years of FBS football – two at New Mexico State and one at Vanderbilt. The NCAA will be able to challenge the ruling, but for now, he has another season.

The timing of Campbell’s decision comes more than a week after the transfer portal opened. Pavia cited the portal window in the suit, citing the need for time to negotiate NIL deals.

In previously filed documents, Pavia wrote that he believed he could earn more than $1 million in 2025 if allowed another season. Sources told On3’s Pete Nakos that as of now, Pavia does not plan to enter the transfer portal.

“I would like to return to Vanderbilt next year,” Pavia said in court documents, “but need time to negotiate NIL deals before the transfer portal opens. If the transfer portal opens before I can complete negotiations with Anchor Impact (the NIL collective for Vanderbilt athletics), I will be trapped between abandoning those negotiations to enter the transfer portal or foregoing possible opportunities with other colleges who may recruit other quarterbacks out of the transfer portal before I can enter.”