NCAA decides not to extend eligibility to DII athletes who played in junior college, but are reviewing eligibility requirements

By Antonia Lopez

Editor in Chief

Trevecca athletes that started their athletic career at a junior college won’t receive any more eligibility from the NCAA–for now.

The NCAA DII Management Council did not receive a majority vote for Division II junior college transfers to receive the same blanket waiver as Diego Pavia, a Vanderbilt University quarterback, who won a legal case granting him another year of eligibility.

Although the blanket waiver will not be extended to DII schools, the council has voted for an extensive revision into eligibility, possibly granting athletes a fifth year of play.

Pavia, Vanderbilt University’s starting quarterback, sued the NCAA on Nov. 8, 2024, challenging an NCAA rule that counts junior college and NAIA playing time toward NCAA eligibility.

He claimed that the NCAA’s rule violated the federal Sherman Act, which outlaws conspiracies that unjustly restrict trade, according to an article by The Tennessean.

As a result of the lawsuit, the NCAA granted Pavia and any other junior college athletes playing at the DI level a one-year injunction that allowed them to play for an extra year.

Matt Wilson, GSC commissioner, required all participating schools to conduct a straw poll regarding the Pavia waiver before the Management Council voted on a decision. The email, provided to TrevEchoes by Athletic Director Mark Elliott, included the possibility of adapting the waiver for GSC schools and further revising junior college transfer eligibility, seasons of competition, and the possibility of having five years of eligibility.

Elliott was aware this could affect DII before the January meeting, as he said it could cause potential recruiting changes at Trevecca.

“They want those people to get another year of eligibility because they’re bigger, faster, stronger, better, than the high school player who comes into the system,” said Elliott. “Would you rather have an 18-year-old high school player who’s never played college basketball? Or would you rather have someone who played junior college, four years of Division II basketball and has a chance to have one more year? I mean, the answer is pretty clear. We would want the better players.”

Fewer than 50 student-athletes on campus are junior college transfers, around a fourth to an eighth of all student-athletes at Trevecca, according to Bre Winic, Trevecca’s director of athletic compliance.

Winic was also aware of the possible changes this could bring to the recruiting landscape.

“For a student-athlete, it would impact them because it would give them a fifth year of eligibility, which would give them the opportunity to get either a second bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree,” said Winic. “For Trevecca, it brings more athletes to our grad programs, it keeps athletes here but gives them more of a leadership role within their team.”

Although the possibility of having an extra year of eligibility would benefit current students, an extension would cause a shortage of scholarships for freshmen hoping to be recruited out of high school.

“I still think the high school players are the ones that are getting screwed over. I look at some players on our men’s and women’s basketball teams who are redshirting this year, Fred [Bailey], and Jax [Abernathy]. The reason they’re doing that is because they’re looking ahead, knowing players like Jalen Page and Jakari Johnson will definitely play,” said Elliott.

“They came in as a senior in high school to a freshman in college, and they [knew] weren’t going to get as much playing time,” he said.

Although the Management Council did not receive the majority vote for the blanket waiver, an eligibility review will be conducted by the Division II Academic Requirements Committee and the Division II Legislation Committee, according to an email provided by Elliott.