QB Diego Pavia back for Vanderbilt amid battle with NCAA that could reshape eligibility rules
Pavia led Vanderbilt to a 7-6 season on the field highlighted by an upset victory over No. 1 Alabama, but his lasting contribution came in court.
The New Mexico State transfer started his career with two seasons at New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college. Under normal circumstances, his collegiate eligibility would have expired after last year. The 2020 season — his first — did not count against eligibility for any athletes due to COVID-19, giving him the four years he ended up playing between one more at the institute, two at New Mexico State and one at Vanderbilt.
Last November, Pavia filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, arguing that his JUCO years should not count against his NCAA eligibility, citing the potential losses in earnings from name, image and likeness deals. U.S. District Judge William Campbell Jr. in Tennessee granted a preliminary injunction, ordering the NCAA to allow Pavia to play.
The NCAA is appealing Campbell's decision but granted a blanket waiver that will allow Pavia and other athletes who played at non-NCAA Division I schools prior to enrollment an extra year of eligibility if they were going to exhaust their eligibility this year.
Pavia is back and ready to lead the Commodores again in 2025.
'I'm just grateful to have him for another year and spend more time with him,' Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said at SEC Media Days on Monday.
College football eligibility could be completely different moving forward in light of Pavia's lawsuit. Others have followed with lawsuits of their own, and alterations to NCAA eligibility remain one of many issues still evolving in college sports.
Pavia is well aware his impact went far beyond just winning games, though.
'I have a lot of teammates, ex-teammates from New Mexico Military Institute who I played with who text me and say, 'Hey, thank you.' A lot of people reach out,' he said. 'It wasn't really me, it was my lawyer who did it.'
Pavia said he supports 'a five-for-five kind of deal,' where college athletes would start with five years of eligibility to be completed in a five-year time period, eliminating the use of redshirts or medical waivers to extend a traditional four-year eligibility clock.
Whether he gets his wish remains to be seen, but he already won one battle by earning the right to play in 2025. Vanderbilt ended last season with a win over Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl, its first bowl victory since 2013 and the exclamation point on improvement from a 2-10 season in 2023.
Pavia gives Vanderbilt an opportunity to sustain momentum from last year's breakthrough campaign.
'I'm in a super blessed position,' Pavia said. 'Because I get to finish something I started.'
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