NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia reacted to a federal judge granting a preliminary injunction Wednesday allowing him to play the 2025 season the same way he celebrated the Commodores upsetting Alabama in October, when the Crimson Tide were the nation’s top-ranked football team.
“VANDY WE (expletive) TURNT,” Pavia wrote on social media with a 100 emoji.
U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell also told the NCAA that the organization cannot take any action against Vanderbilt or any other university that Pavia plays a fifth season for next year in his order issuing the injunction Wednesday. Campbell had asked attorneys at a Dec. 4 hearing both how quickly they could be ready for trial, and the judge also inquired about the NCAA transfer portal’s current window, which closes Dec. 28.
“With Pavia as quarterback, Vanderbilt has seen historic success — Vanderbilt beat both the University of Alabama and Auburn University — and the team will be playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2018,” Campbell wrote in an opinion issued with the injunction. “Those familiar with college football appreciate this remarkable accomplishment. Pavia estimates that he could earn over $1 million in NIL compensation in the 2025-26 season.”
Campbell noted current NCAA bylaws had made Pavia ineligible to play Division I football in 2025 simply because the quarterback started his career at a junior college.