Middle Tennessee has a new defensive tackle after a college player cleared a legal path that almost ended his season. After the lawsuit, the injunction, and the portal entry, he has a new G5 home!
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Victory Vaka has signed with Middle Tennessee State. The defensive tackle and redshirt senior entered the transfer portal on August 20, just hours after getting a temporary injunction against the NCAA. He signed with the Blue Raiders days later, and the move was reported on August 24.
Middle Tennessee opens the season on September 5 against Murray State. The signing only became possible after Vaka won a legal fight that had blocked his final year of college football.
He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on August 5, 2026, in Rutherford County Chancery Court. The suit came after Western Kentucky decided not to renew his scholarship and labeled the departure a disciplinary “failure to report.”
That label stopped the normal portal window that comes with an aid cancellation. On August 20, the court granted a temporary injunction, ordering the NCAA to certify Vaka as eligible within 24 hours and allow immediate portal entry. The order also blocked the NCAA’s “Ghost Transfer” rules and “Rule of Restitution” penalties. No bond was required.
After his mother’s death in April, Western Kentucky supported his grief leave. He returned to finish spring remotely, earning a 3.33 GPA. He met with professors and head coach Tyson Helton, who offered support and said he would understand if Vaka wanted to transfer closer to home. Vaka also received a summer workout plan. Around early May, a strength coach told him the staff did not expect him back until June. Then the confusion began.
On May 5, general manager Zachary Kramme texted Vaka’s agent about his “time away in May,” weight concerns, and the program’s search for a defensive tackle. Three weeks later, Vaka’s position coach contacted him, asking, “Where are you?” The next day, chief of staff Travis Taylor told Vaka and agent Jaykwon Jefferson that the scholarship was canceled.
Vaka has said there were communication issues on both sides. He thought May was essentially given off for grieving and planned to return in June. He maintained he never told Western Kentucky he was not coming back.
The dispute left him one semester from graduation with no clear way to use his final year of eligibility. The injunction changed that. Middle Tennessee became the destination. Multiple FBS programs had shown interest through his agent once the portal opened. Vaka now has another chance to finish his college career.
The legal win and new home close one chapter, but the story still has another side that few saw coming.
Lil Wayne’s quiet help in the fight
Lil Wayne became involved after Vaka’s situation drew national attention. After the July CBS Sports story, Lil Wayne’s manager, Fabian Marasciullo, contacted agent Jaykwon Jefferson.
Jefferson said the story “touched Wayne, and he wanted to help in any way possible.” Wayne paid the legal fees. He also flew Vaka and his brother to meet him at a concert on August 1, 2026. Jefferson called the help “a major lifesaver.”
Vaka shared his feelings in the July CBS Sports report. “I was shocked.” “It’s like inhumane what they did. When some of these coaches say they care, they really don’t.”
“I didn’t want to leave Western Kentucky, but I had to be back at home… I got that feeling they wouldn’t be mad if I didn’t come back.” “In my mind, they were giving me the whole month of May off… I think that’s where all this went sideways. The lack of communication from both parties.”
In a June 2026 X post, he said he preferred playing closer to home after his mother’s death but stayed open to options while waiting on the Western Kentucky waiver.
After the injunction, Vaka posted on X, “I have been granted an injunction to enter the transfer portal! Thank you to everyone who supported me during this time.”
Vaka played four games at Northern Arizona in 2024. At Texas Southern in 2025, he recorded 12 tackles (2 solo, 10 assisted) with zero sacks across 171 snaps. He joined Western Kentucky in January 2026 for what was meant to be his final season on a scholarship.