KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has filed a lawsuit as he bids for an extra year of eligibility that would allow him to play this fall.
The complaint filed Friday in Knox County Chancery Court in Tennessee argues that Aguilar should be allowed a fourth year of playing Division I football rather than having the years he spent in junior college count against his eligibility. The Knoxville (Tennessee) News Sentinel first reported on the lawsuit.
Aguilar played at Diablo Valley (California) Community College from 2021-22 before transferring to Appalachian State, where he spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Aguilar then transferred to Tennessee and completed 67.3% of his passes for 3,565 yards with 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this past season.
He also redshirted at City College of San Francisco in 2019 before his 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic.
“Aguilar needs relief now, to know whether he should report to spring practice or prepare for the NFL draft,” the complaint says.
Aguilar is seeking an emergency temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requiring the NCAA to permit him to play one more season for Tennessee in 2026.
Aguilar had recently removed himself from the list of plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia had filed in federal court. Pavia’s lawsuit had challenged an NCAA rule that counts seasons spent at junior colleges against players’ eligibility for Division I football.
Pavia initially sued the NCAA in November 2024 and won a preliminary injunction that allowed him to play for Vanderbilt in 2025. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting and helped Vanderbilt go 10-3.
The NCAA appealed the Pavia ruling but issued a blanket waiver that granted an extra year of eligibility to former junior college players whose situations were similar to the Vanderbilt quarterback.
“Despite Pavia’s injunction, the NCAA’s blanket waiver for JUCO players and the record-breaking successes of the 2025 season, the NCAA decided to enforce the JUCO rule again in 2026,” the complaint says. “It refuses to grant waivers, even on an individual basis, to any athletes who ask that their junior-college years not be counted against them. The NCAA has given no rational explanation for that disparate treatment.”
Although Pavia now plans to enter the NFL draft, he continued his lawsuit to assist other former junior college players. Norris’ complaint notes that a ruling on the Pavia case won’t come until at least Feb. 10.
“This sequence of events put Aguilar in an untenable position,” the complaint says. “He cannot wait much longer to know whether he is eligible to play college football in 2026.”
According to the complaint, Aguilar removed himself from the Pavia case and filed his own lawsuit in hopes of a quick ruling. Norris wrote that Aguilar has a spot on Tennessee’s roster waiting for him and that he could make about $2 million playing college football this year.
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