Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar is continuing his fight for another season of eligibility. On Wednesday, a Knox County judge granted Aguilar’s request for a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, KnoxNews’ Adam Sparks first reported.
The temporary restraining order allows Aguilar to join the Tennessee team in the short term. However, this is not a permanent decision. The preliminary injunction is expected to be set for Friday, Jan. 13, and a more permanent decision will come following that.
Now, in response to the recent development, Pete Nakos of On3 has shared a statement given to him from the NCAA on Aguilar’s quest for eligibility.
“This outcome – after the plaintiff withdrew from a federal lawsuit and separately filed a lawsuit in state court with the exact same facts – illustrates the impossible situation created by differing court decisions that serve to undermine rules agreed to by the same NCAA members who later challenge them in court,” the NCAA said in a statement released to On3. “We will continue to defend the NCAA’s eligibility rules against repeated attempts to rob high school students of the opportunity to compete in college and experience the life-changing opportunities only college sports can create. The NCAA and its member schools are making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes, but the patchwork of state laws and inconsistent, conflicting court decisions make partnering with Congress essential to provide stability for all college athletes.”
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Aguilar’s lawsuit argues that his junior college seasons should not count toward his NCAA eligibility. He redshirted at the junior college level in 2019, before the 2020 season was cancelled due to Covid. Then, he played a pair of seasons at the junior college level before joining the NCAA ranks with App State. He played there for two years before transferring to Tennessee this past summer.
A judge in a similar Diego Pavia case originally sided with the Vanderbilt quarterback last winter, enacting a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. In response, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes who previously played in junior college and ran out of eligibility during the 2024-25 athletic year. That was how Aguilar had eligibility a year ago to play for the Vols.
Aguilar was also initially a plaintiff in another Pavia lawsuit before removing himself a week ago. He is looking for a faster resolution now with workouts underway, spring camp soon to begin and the NFL draft process continuing to march on.
