Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt Quarterback (VU photo)
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Always keep your head on a swivel in the modern college athletics landscape. It’s the best advice you can receive during this constantly turbulent time.
In the latest twist and turn in the college athletics and baseball world, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia could be the chief reason the baseball landscape dramatically changes over the next few years.
Pavia, who began his career with a two-year stint at the New Mexico Military Institute, spent last season at New Mexico State before starring at Vanderbilt this past fall. Eligibility completed, right? Not so fast. Pavia and his lawyers, citing antitrust issues with the NCAA, filed a lawsuit against the organization in federal court in November suggesting that your eligibility clock as it relates to the NCAA doesn’t begin until you’re actually in the NCAA web. In other words, any years at a junior college wouldn’t count against your eligibility clock at a Division I institution.
Pavia, and potentially thousands of other athletes, received a potential massive victory on Wednesday when the United States District Court in Nashville, Tenn., led by Judge William Campbell, awarded an injunction to Pavia to play another season for the Commodores while the overall case result is still pending.
The ramifications of that decision could spread far and wide and received blowback — as you could imagine — from the NCAA.
“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 organization said in a statement. “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 of college athletics.”
The court decision is not necessarily final. Though Pavia will, for now, have the ability to play the 2025 college football season, the fate of other student-athletes in the same boat is undetermined. For now, the NCAA has not appealed the decision. However, the NCAA can appeal the decision, and the case could then go to trial, where the judge would have the ability to side with the NCAA upon further examination. Adding further complexities to this court case is that it could ultimately end up as a case decided by a United States Circuit Court or, as a final straw, the United States Supreme Court.
The injunction could’ve opened Pandora’s box in college football. Just hours after the Pavia decision was released, Utah State star running back Rahsul Faison announced he was planning to enter the transfer portal, and was willing to go the legal route to obtain eligibility. He won’t be the last player to do this — in college football or baseball.
So, what does this court decision mean for college baseball?
It could mean junior college participation soon doesn’t count against your Division I eligibility. You’ll have to let it play out in the courts, or see if the NCAA ultimately gets proactive on this ruling. On the flip side, it opens the door for a groundswell of players to file waivers to get another year of eligibility, just like Pavia. Conventional wisdom suggests those waivers – for now – would be approved, given the recent Pavia decision.
Some notable college baseball players would have benefitted from this ruling just months ago. Both former Blinn (TX) College products, Texas reliever Gage Boehm and Texas A&M All-American lefthanded pitcher Evan Aschenbeck, were strongly considering returns to their respective institutions. However, previously denied waivers gave both a strong indication that their waivers, too, would get denied. Boehm went on to sign with the Mariners as an undrafted free agent, while Aschenbeck signed with the Cubs after getting selected in the 13th round. Many coaches have reached out to D1Baseball over the past few months to say they, too, had players who received significant roadblocks to gaining another year of eligibility.
In most recent news and perhaps a sign of shifting tides, North Carolina infielder Jackson Van De Brake — before the Pavia ruling — had a waiver approved this week by the NCAA to play a fifth season. Van De Brake played two full seasons at Tacoma (WA) College before spending the last two seasons at North Carolina. He was an All-ACC infielder two seasons ago before having 80 at bats last season. Van De Brake could be the first of many college baseball-related eligibility waivers to be approved by the NCAA in the coming months. Some players with the same eligibility clock as Van De Brake had waivers denied a few months ago.
There’s still much at stake as this court case is pending until the NCAA makes its next chess move. But for the time being, I’d expect waivers similar to Pavia’s situation to either be approved or to have the NCAA once again risk being taken to court by student-athlete representation. This is purely my educated opinion, but history would indicate the student athletes have the upper hand in this court case with the NCAA potentially hinging on Congress to save the day on the existing eligibility clock.
We could soon be in a situation where it is mainstream for a college baseball player to spend two years at a junior college before spending the next four seasons with a Division I program. Some in our industry believe that even more years of eligibility could be on the table as more court cases potentially play out. That reality, combined with a roster being trimmed down from 40 to 34, presents a potential roster management nightmare.
Seems kind of crazy, right? Welcome to college athletics in 2024.
