Did Diego Pavia say this is his last year for Vanderbilt football despite latest NCAA lawsuit

• Diego Pavia filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in 2024, challenging his elligibility for the 2025 season.
• A district court ruled in favor of Pavia, and the NCAA granted him, and others in his same situation, an additional year.
• The NCAA filed an appeal, arguing that their elligibility rules are not subject to antitrust laws.

This story has been updated to add new information.

If the attorneys representing Diego Pavia in his eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA win, the Vanderbilt quarterback could play an extra year beyond this season.

The current Commodores quarterback filed suit against the NCAA in November 2024 challenging the junior college rule that says years played there count toward NCAA's eligibility. Pavia argued they shouldn't, and sought a waiver to pursue another year at Vanderbilt. He won that. Then the NCAA appealed.

Ryan Downton, who argued on behalf of Pavia during oral arguments for the appeal Sept. 16, married arguments from this case and another in which he represents Vanderbilt football players Langston Patterson and Yilanan Ouattara and two other former Vanderbilt players challenging the redshirt rule. In that lawsuit, they argue players should be allowed five seasons in the five years.

Pavia did not appear in person at the hearing, which occurred during Vanderbilt football's practice. In a post on X after the court appearance, Pavia posted "this my last year" despite the challenge to the redshirt rule.

Central to the argument is money, specifically the earning potential of college players, and the free flow of commerce through NIL.

Should the NCAA's rules limiting elligibility be subject to antitrust laws, given college players' ability to recieve compensation through name, image and likeness deals? That's what attorneys Downton, and Rakesh Kilaru, representing the NCAA, set out to answer in their oral arguments.

The three-panel appellate judges for the Sixth Circuit — Judges Amul Thapar, Chad Readler and Whitney Hermandorfer— heard the arguments. Kilaru argued there's no evidence having limitations on eligibility suppresses wages. Downton said having restrictions, a barrier to entry, makes it commercial in nature and therefore subject to antitrust laws.

During the hearing, the judges asked dozens of questions, poking at each attorney's argument. Readler pointed out to Kilaru that given the rules as they are now, it seems in a player's best interest to go straight to Division I schools over junior colleges, if given the option, to maximize earning potential. With no choice, players going to junior college are limited.

"It seems to shut down jucos," Readler said.

Thapar pushed back against Downton's definition of what could limit a player's earning potential.

"Mr. Pavia is a great example here. "His story is incredible. Coming out of high school, he had no Division I offers. He developed in juco. The limiting factor was that he wasn't good enough to play in Divison I."

The hearing lasted an hour. The judges gave no indication of how long it might take for them to issue a ruling.

What to know about Diego Pavia's NCAA court case

Pavia originally sued the NCAA in November 2024, alleging that the NCAA's rules counting junior college years against years of NCAA eligibility violated antitrust laws. Among the arguments that Pavia's attorneys made in court were that junior college athletics are not governed by the NCAA and that junior colleges sometimes compete against prep schools for athletes, and prep school years do not count toward NCAA eligibility. Pavia was hoping for an extra year during which he could make NIL money at Vanderbilt after spending two years at a junior college then two years at New Mexico Military Institute.

Pavia won his injunction last December, but the NCAA decided to appeal, leading to this hearing.

Will this appeal affect Diego Pavia's Vanderbilt football eligibility?

No. Pavia is eligible for the 2025 season regardless of what happens with his appeal. After Pavia won his injunction, the NCAA issued a blanket waiver for all players who began their college careers in 2020 or later who spent time at a junior college and would have otherwise been out of eligibility in 2024-25. These players were granted an extra year regardless of the appeal.

This appeal is primarily to determine whether the NCAA will be forced to change its rules regarding junior college eligibility going forward. A few other Vanderbilt athletes could be impacted by this decision. Tre Richardson, a top receiver on the football team, spent one year at a junior college. So did Cade Sears, an outfielder on the baseball team.

Diego Pavia stats 2025

In three games so far in 2025, Pavia is 50-for-68 passing for 645 yards and seven touchdowns to two interceptions. He has rushed 30 times for 140 yards. Vanderbilt is 3-0 with wins over Charleston Southern, Virginia Tech and South Carolina.