College sports Diego Pavia Vanderbilt Commodores Sports William L. Campbell
# NCAA sends guidance to schools regarding how to handle waiver that resulted from Pavia ruling

By The Associated Press  
March 14th, 2025 09:37 PM

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The NCAA has sent out guidance advising schools on how to handle the waiver that it granted to junior college athletes in December after a court ruled in favor of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia's bid for another year of eligibility.

This waiver permits student-athletes who attended and competed at a non-NCAA school such as a junior college or NAIA institution for at least one year to become eligible to compete in the 2025-26 academic year if they otherwise would have exhausted their eligibility in this school year. This is assuming they are otherwise academically and athletically eligible.

A student-athlete who previously attended a non-NCAA school and is now at Division II or Division III institution and had been expected to exhaust his or her eligibility this year would now be able to compete at a Division I school in 2025-26, as long as that person spent at least one season of competition at the non-NCAA school, satisfies all other waiver criteria and meets all other eligibility requirements.

The NCAA emphasized that this waiver is specifically for students who spent at least one season of competition at a non-NCAA institution. The NCAA says the waiver isn't available to student-athletes who used four seasons of competition at NCAA schools, regardless of division.

According to the guidance, athletes who played at least one season at a non-NCAA institution such as a junior college or an NAIA school will be eligible to compete during the 2025-26 year.

If a student-athlete has time remaining in their eligibility period to use in 2025-26 based on relief provided due to the pandemic's impact, they also could qualify for this relief provided they spent at least one season at a non-NCAA school, are otherwise eligible and haven't competed in four seasons at an NCAA institution.

Pavia received an injunction in December enabling him to play one more season at Vanderbilt this fall. U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell ruled that Pavia would have had "strong likelihood of success" under the Sherman Act at trial because the NCAA's rules limiting junior college eligibility were "restraints on trade with substantial anticompetitive effects."

The NCAA has appealed that ruling.

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