Hearing set in Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia's lawsuit against NCAA

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia picked up a win Thursday in his lawsuit against the NCAA. During a conference call with Pavia’s attorneys and the NCAA, Judge William Campbell set a court date to hear Pavia’s preliminary injunction on Dec. 4 at 1:30 p.m. CT in Nashville.

The NCAA will have until Nov. 22 to respond to Pavia’s motion for a preliminary injunction. In a lawsuit filed last week against the NCAA, the Vanderbilt quarterback argued that the governing body’s redshirt rule involving junior college eligibility violates antitrust law. The complaint also argued that the NCAA’s rules have forced athletes to miss out on NIL dollars.

Earlier this week, Campbell denied Pavia’s motion for a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee. But the quarterback will now have his court date in under a month for his preliminary injunction, which if granted, would allow Pavia to return for the 2025-26 season.

In Pavia’s filing for the temporary restraining order, he argued that he would suffer “irreparable harm” if he did not know his status before the transfer portal opened on Dec. 9.

If he has to wait to know his eligibility for the 2025-26 season, he would be between a “rock and a hard place” about negotiations with Vanderbilt for next season and deciding whether to enter the transfer portal.

The judge denied the TRO because “Plaintiff has almost certainly been aware of the challenged bylaws and his ineligibility to play college football in the 2025-26 season for quite some time and has been discussing possible resolution with the NCAA, the Court is not persuaded that an ex parte order is justified.”

But Campbell now will hear the motion for a preliminary injunction. Pavia transferred to Vanderbilt for the 2024 season after spending two seasons at New Mexico State. The 2023 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year did not hold an FBS offer out of high school. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Pavia spent two seasons at the New Mexico Military Institute to begin his career.

He led Vanderbilt’s upset of Alabama earlier this season. He threw for 252 yards and rushed for 56 more as the Commodores stunned No. 1 Alabama 40-35. The quarterback’s performance led Vanderbilt to its first win over an AP top-five team in program history. Vanderbilt was 0-60 all-time against AP top-five teams.

“Athletes playing football outside of the NCAA monopoly have no meaningful opportunity to profit off their name, image, or likeness,” Pavia’s initial 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.”

An NCAA rule change in 2018 allowed college football players to compete in up to four games without having that season count toward their four allotted years of eligibility. Pavia played eight games in 2020-21 and 12 games in 2021-22 at New Mexico Military Institute.

A name to watch in the Heisman Trophy race, Diego Pavia has thrown for 1,843 yards with 15 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He’s also rushed for 628 yards and five touchdowns.