Steve Sarkisian disagrees, with JUCO years not counting toward NCAA eligibility.

Wednesday, Vanderbilt Quarterback Diego Pavie was granted a motion for a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against the NCAA for eligibility for 2025. Pavie argues that the NCAA’s eligibility rules counting JUCO seasons among the 4 seasons violate antitrust laws with respect to NIL opportunities.

The court’s decision only affects Pavie, because he filed the lawsuit based solely on his own eligibility. This, however, sets a precedent and could potentially lead to more lawsuits if the NCAA does not address the eligibility of all JUCO athletes.

The news from Pavia went far beyond the Vanderbilt football orbit. Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian was asked for his opinion during a media opportunity Thursday and expressed his disapproval.

“I absolutely disagree,” Sargsyan said to begin his response, erroneously calling it an “NCAA determination.”

Texas reporter Joshua Newman asked Sarkisian’s perspective on the situation because of the Longhorn coach’s background. As an athlete, Sarkisian first played baseball at USC in 1992. He later transferred to El Camino, a community college in Los Angeles County. It was there that he decided to try football again and played 2 seasons. He would then transfer to BYU, playing 2 seasons of football in the NCAA before playing professionally in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Sarkisian believes starting in JUCO is a choice and should not lead to the aging of NCAA football.

“We chose to go to junior college football,” the Texas coach said in his response. “This is where we wanted to start and play our careers. So, I don’t understand at all. We’ll have guys 28 to 29 years old playing college football. What is it for? I don’t understand. I don’t understand. I totally disagree with this.

Sarkisian’s Longhorns beat Pavia and the Commodores 27-24 in October.

Asked by @Joshua_Newman When it came to the decision to give Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia another year, Steve Sarkisian was pretty straightforward:

“I completely disagree…we’re going to have 28-29 year old guys playing college football.”#Hang Them | #Texas pic.twitter.com/9yTFXZXkCd

– Cory Mose (@Cory_Mose) December 19, 2024

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and his collection of concert posters. He strongly supports the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.