Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar, after hiring a high-powered attorney, has separated from the Diego Pavia federal lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s eligibility rules regarding former junior college players.
It appears 24-year-old Aguilar will go it alone in his attempt to play for the Vols in the 2026 season. However, there could be more to his strategy than meets the eye.
On Jan. 30, the court granted Aguilar’s voluntary dismissal from the Pavia case, according to court records obtained by Knox News. Pavia, the former Vanderbilt quarterback, filed the antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA in late 2024, and Aguilar joined as a plaintiff in November 2025.
On Jan. 28, Aguilar informed the court that he had retained attorney Cam Norris to represent him.
Notably, in 2024, Norris defeated the NCAA in court regarding its probe into UT and former quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Now he’ll try help Aguilar, another Vols quarterback.
Norris did not respond to a Knox News request for comment.
Aguilar’s legal strategy isn’t known. But some recent eligibility lawsuits filed in state court against the NCAA could serve as a template.
On Jan. 21, the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court in Alabama granted 23-year-old NBA G League player Charles Bediako a temporary restraining order to return to college basketball. He is now an active player for University of Alabama.
Trinidad Chambliss, the 23-year-old Ole Miss quarterback, filed his eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA in Calhoun County Circuit Court in Mississippi. Chambliss is seeking to prove that he should be granted a medical hardship waiver for his 2022 season at Ferris State.
Chambliss’ motion for a preliminary injunction will be heard Feb. 12. If successful, he would be eligible to play college football in the 2026 season.
Aguilar’s legal argument is quite different from Bediako and Chambliss. But Aguilar likely stands a better chance of victory in a Tennessee state court than federal, and he could still benefit from the Pavia case.
Aguilar could file a lawsuit in Tennessee state court, presumably in Knox County, in hopes of obtaining a temporary retraining order against NCAA rules that deem Aguilar ineligible. If successful, that could lead to a preliminary injunction hearing as a long-term solution for Aguilar.
If Aguilar’s attorney opts for that strategy, the process could take only a few weeks.
Tennessee starts spring practice in mid-March, although the opening date hasn’t been announced. Aguilar is expected to be in recovery through late February, following a Jan. 2 surgery to remove a benign tumor on his arm, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported.
Aguilar is not currently enrolled. However, UT offers a mini-session, giving students the option to cram a course into a condensed time frame during a half-semester. That session runs from March 18 to May 7.
If Aguilar remains ineligible, redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, five-star freshman Faizon Brandon and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub will compete for the starting job in the 2026 season.
Aguilar led the SEC with 3,565 passing yards, the third most in a single season in UT history, along with 24 TD passes in 2025. If he returned in 2026, he’d presumably remain the Vols’ starter.
The Pavia federal case is at a critical juncture. Aguilar is no longer a plaintiff, but the ruling could impact his eligibility.
A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 10 in Nashville, where Judge William Campbell will consider a preliminary injunction halting NCAA rules regarding former junior college players.
On Jan. 15, Campbell denied a request for a preliminary injunction in a similar case, where college football players sought to play a fifth season. They were challenging the NCAA redshirt rule, which allows an athlete to compete in four seasons over five years.
Pavia, who initially filed the lawsuit regarding junior college players, will not return to college next season, even if his case is successful. He has declared for the 2026 NFL Draft. However, 25 additional players remain as plaintiffs.
If the Pavia case fails, Aguilar would not be bound by its ruling. Therefore, he could still be successful in state court.
If the Pavia case succeeds, Aguilar would not gain eligibility immediately because he’s no longer a plaintiff. However, language of a preliminary injunction presumably would be broad enough for Pavia to file a federal action in the same court that would have the effect of a class action suit, applying to former junior college players with the same fact pattern as Pavia. That would include Aguilar.
The NCAA allows players to compete for four seasons within five years. And it counts junior college seasons toward that total and time period even though junior colleges are not part of the NCAA.
Pavia’s lawsuit seeks to change the eligibility rules, where junior college competition wouldn’t factor into NCAA seasons of eligibility or an athlete’s eligibility clock. Only seasons at an NCAA institution would count as part of NCAA eligibility.
That means Aguilar, who started his career in junior college, would get one more season to play. He already has spent seven years in college football, but only three seasons at NCAA member schools.
In 2019, Aguilar redshirted at City College of San Francisco. In 2020, the COVID pandemic canceled his junior college season there. In 2021-22, he played two junior college seasons at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California.
His NCAA career began in 2023 when he played at Appalachian State. He transferred to UCLA for spring 2025, and then he transferred to Tennessee in essentially a quarterback swap involving Iamaleava.
Aguilar retained Norris, a high-powered attorney who previously defeated the NCAA in court.
In 2024, Norris successfully argued on behalf of the Tennessee attorney general’s office in UT’s defense against an NCAA probe over NIL rules. In that case, the state of Tennessee argued the NCAA rules regarding NIL benefits violated antitrust laws.
That lawsuit was filed on the heels of the NCAA’s investigation into UT’s NIL dealings, especially those involving its recruitment of quarterback Iamaleava. The federal lawsuit and the NCAA’s investigation into UT weren’t directly connected, but the prior impacted the latter.
Norris’ argument was effective. A federal judge suspended NCAA rules regarding NIL benefits for athlete. And the case was settled in January 2025, allowing college athletes to negotiate NIL deals during the recruiting process without fear of NCAA penalties.
Meanwhile, the NCAA dropped into investigation into UT and Iamaleava.
Norris practices law for the Consovoy McCarthy firm in Arlington, Virginia, but he lives in Knoxville. He graduated from Vanderbilt Law School.
Norris has represented prominent nonprofits, many states in federal court, the Republican Party and then-candidate Donald Trump in 2022. He has argued twice at the U.S. Supreme Court, including the landmark case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email[email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
Subscribe to Updates
Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.
