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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors on Monday approved a blanket waiver granting an additional year of eligibility to former junior college transfers in similar positions to Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, opening the door for a wave of college athletes across all sports to spend one more year in college athletics.
According to an NCAA memo, the waiver extends an extra year of eligibility in 2025-26 to athletes who previously “competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years” and otherwise would have exhausted their NCAA eligibility following the 2024-25 season.
The decision from the NCAA comes five days after a federal judge in Tennessee granted an injunction to allow Pavia, a former junior college transfer who played his first season at Vanderbilt in 2024, to pursue an additional year of college eligibility next fall.
In its memo announcing the waiver, the NCAA also announced that it has filed a notice of appeal to the ruling in Pavia’s case.
Pavia initially sued the NCAA over its eligibility standards in November, contending that the organization’s rules that include a player’s junior college years against his overall NCAA eligibility violate antitrust laws in restricting an athlete’s ability to earn money from their name, image and likeness.
Last week’s injunction applied solely to Pavia and would have prevented the NCAA from barring the Vanderbilt quarterback from returning next fall. However, Monday’s ruling from the NCAA will now allow other athletes in similar situations — former junior college players who would have been out of eligibility following this season — to return for an additional year in 2025-26.
The waiver does not extend to all junior college athletes, only those who would have completed their NCAA eligibility this year.
Pavia’s lawsuit and the subsequent injunction have potentially paved the way for hundreds of former junior college athletes to gain an additional year of eligibility in 2025-26.
Pavia completed 59.2% of his passes for 2,133 yards and 17 touchdowns to four interceptions while leading Vanderbilt to a 6-6 finish in 2024. He joined the Commodores following two seasons at New Mexico State after beginning his college career at New Mexico Military Institute, a two-year junior college.
Under NCAA rules, athletes are typically given five years to play four seasons. Among the arguments in Pavia’s lawsuit is that the NCAA unfairly counted his time in junior college — played outside the purview of the organization — against his NCAA eligibility, and in turn limited his ability to earn money off of his name, image and likeness.
Under the new waiver, Pavia will be granted a sixth year of NCAA eligibility next fall.
Florida State wide receiver Malik Benson thought he’d used his final year of eligibility after playing for the Seminoles in 2024, Alabama in 2023 and the prior two seasons at Hutchinson Community College. He told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Monday that he plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal in the wake of the ruling and feels blessed to have an opportunity to play one more year.
Benson and his agent had been in touch with attorney Darren Heitner, who works in the college sports space, about filing for an extra year. They had a 28-page complaint prepared, but never had to file it.
“I’m just glad that the Lord blessed me with another opportunity and another year,” Benson told Thamel. “I will not take this for granted.”
Benson is expected to be one of many who either return to school or enter the portal to take advantage of the ruling.
News surrounding the NCAA waiver and Pavia’s lawsuit comes days before Vanderbilt takes part in its first bowl game since 2018. Pavia and the Commodores will meet Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27 (3:30 p.m., ESPN).