Vanderbilt Commodores QB Diego Pavia is in the headlines again after his eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA. The Albuquerque native is seeking one more year of college football arguing that his two previous seasons in junior college should not count against his eligibility. Pavia, as we know transferred to the Commodores after two successful seasons in New Mexico State, but we could have seen him play under Deion Sanders had things gone to plan.

Pavia became an overnight sensation when he led Vanderbilt to a stunning win over Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama last month. Pavia threw for 252 yards and rushed for 56 more in the historic 40-35 victory. So far this year, he has 118 of 183 passing for 1,534 yards, which makes up a 64.5% completion rate, along with 13 touchdowns. His journey to the Commodores wasn’t an easy one. He had to take a detour to the junior college he was also turned from Jackson State, thanks to Coach Prime’s preference for his son, according to Pavia.

Talking about his journey in an interview with the Zen Game QB Show on July 30, the 23-year-old phenom shared, “Out of high school I had like division 2 offers. U&M like never gave me a real shot. New Mexico State never gave me a shot…Walked on. No scholarship. I remember my mom paid $427 exactly. I was like alright, this is the last time ever you are gonna pay for me.” 

As Pavia started putting in the hard yards, New Mexico State decided to offer him a full scholarship and at the same time Jackson State, led by Coach Prime came into the picture. “I had like a week to decide whether I was going to Jackson State or New Mexico State. Jackson State at the time had Deion and Sheduer Sanders and they were like you’re not playing over my son,” Pavia revealed.

At that time, playing under an NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl winner in Sanders would have done wonders for Pavia. Coming out of high school, Pavia didn’t receive any Division I offers right off the bat, despite impressive performances. This led him to join junior college, enrolling at New Mexico Military Institute. There he led the program to a junior college national championship. New Mexico came calling in December 2021, and a month later Jackson State lined up for him.

But at that time, helmed by Deion Sanders, the program had his son, Shedeur Sanders in the top quarterback position. Hence, while we cannot ascertain Pavia’s claim of Deion Sanders refusing to play him over his son, it would have made sense for him to look elsewhere.

New Mexico had always been on his mind and he made the move for the 2022 season. In his two seasons, Pavia notched up 4,423 passing yards and 39 touchdowns with nearly 1,500 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns and was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year.

Despite strong performances, he decided to move to Vanderbilt, which gave him a chance to play in a Power Four conference.

The move has done wonders for him, as he has proven to be a capable performer. But he is now involved in a legal battle with the NCAA, after filing a lawsuit on Friday. Pavia is seeking a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, which is preventing him from playing the 2025-26 season based on his attendance at junior college during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

The lawsuit argues, that because the governing body counts junior college seasons towards NCAA eligibility and athletes cannot redshirt after they have played four years, NCAA rules violate antitrust law. This also means he could miss out on valuable NIL dollars if unsuccessful in his lawsuit.

Meanwhile, his performances for Vanderbilt have got people to take notice, which bodes well for his future. In fact, among his admirers, his Deion Sanders Jr.

How Diego Pavia’s star power got everyone talking

The Vanderbilt vs Alabama face-off came at a time when the Colorado Buffaloes were going through a bye week. So HC Deion had ample time in his hand to indulge in the not-so-big faceoff, which eventually turned out to be shocking. All thanks to Pavia and his teammates, who took down the best team in college football. 

252 yards and two touchdowns with the Vandy signal-caller adding 56 yards with his legs is no joke, isn’t it? His performance led to Deion Sanders Jr. sending a heartfelt message in Pavia’s favor. On X, Bucky wrote, “Diego Pavia….Bro has an incredible story! He was also supposed to come to Jackson State. Good game, You deserve it. Congratulations my brother!” It was not a normal praise story but actually had a strong purpose.

To promote him to the brands, Deion Jr. also shared a screenshot showing how Diego Pavia’s NIL inquiries were overflowing. Even though Pavia missed out on playing under Sanders and the fanfare it would have brought him, he is carving his own name in college football this season already.