A federal judge denied Alberto Osuna’s request for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA on Monday afternoon following the hearing on the subject last Wednesday, KnoxNews Mike Wilson first reported. The ruling keeps Osuna ineligible for Tennessee baseball as the Vols prepare for their final week before opening up SEC play.
Osuna transferred to Tennessee last month just two weeks before the start of the college baseball season. The Mauldin, South Carolina native played two seasons at Walters State Junior College and the last three seasons North Carolina.
“That’s a pretty unique kid, pretty unique kid,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said of Osuna last week. “So I hope karma is on his side. I can tell you that. The rest, I honestly have no idea. So I don’t mean to make any kind of political statement with that at all. I watched him play and the big homers and all that don’t really match up with the – he’s kind of a teddy bear, but also he’s got some fight to him and he’s a fun one to have around.”
The first baseman ran out of Division I eligibility following last season but transferred to Division II power Tampa University back in the fall. But after Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia won eligibility based lawsuit against the NCAA on the grounds that junior college seasons can not count against a player’s NCAA eligibility, Osuna entered the transfer portal.
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After the Pavia case, the NCAA gave a blanket waiver to former junior college athletes who completed their third year of Division-I eligibility during the 2024-25 academic year. But they did not extend that waiver to athletes like Osuna who exhausted their third year of eligibility during the 2024-25 academic year.
The NCAA’s slow pace of reviewing Osuna’s case led to the former North Carolina slugger filing a lawsuit of his own, but the courts denied his request on Monday. Georgia baseball’s Dylan Goldstein was in a similar situation to Osuna and filed the same lawsuit but the Georgia courts also denied him eligibility.
Osuna was a three-year starter for North Carolina at both first base and designated hitter. The right-handed bat combined to hit .259 with 32 doubles, 45 home runs and 140 RBIs in his three seasons at North Carolina.
During the 2024 season, Osuna hit .281 with 17 doubles,14 home runs and 56 RBIs on the Tar Heels run to the College World Series. Despite not joining Tennessee’s roster until two weeks before first pitch, Osuna is the favorite to start at first base for the Vols this season.
Tennessee is off to a fast 11-0 start to the season and ranks in the top two nationally in ever rankings after three weekends. The Vols have an abundance of depth with three different Tennessee players starting at first base in the 11 games of the season with freshman Levi Clark also playing the spot as a sub.
