Vanderbilt's Langston Patterson ineligible for 2026 after judge denies redshirt injunction – tennessean.com

Vanderbilt football player Langston Patterson is ineligible to play in 2026 after federal judge William Campbell denied an injunction on Jan. 15.
Patterson, along with four other college football players who are not at Vanderbilt, were part of a larger class action suit arguing that the NCAA’s redshirt rule violated antitrust law. Their argument was centered around the fact that players who were not good enough to play as freshmen had an extra year to receive NIL money compared to better players who did not redshirt.
Among the reasons given for denying the injunction, according to court documents provided to The Tennessean, was that due to the new roster and revenue sharing limits established in the House settlement, granting a wider number of players eligibility would not increase overall opportunities or compensation for athletes as a whole, as it would just change which athletes received that compensation.
Athletes granted a fifth year would simply take a roster spot and money that had previously been allocated to someone else. The judge also stated that the plaintiffs failed to provide a compelling argument on why athletes needed to be granted five years of eligibility instead of four were the redshirt rule to be done away with and that they waited too long to file their lawsuit when they knew their eligibility was close to being up.
The judge also said in his opinion that granting the injunction would lead to a sudden flood of lawsuits from players in similar situations, much like the Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia case did.
While the overall case will continue, the denial of the injunction means that Patterson, who played in four seasons for the Commodores, will not be eligible to play in the interim, nor will any other fourth-year players who did not take a redshirt. Those five players had sought an injunction separately from the remainder of the case, which involved athletes in other sports, because of the transfer portal window in football closing Jan. 16.
Senior Vanderbilt women’s basketball players Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and Justine Pissott, as well as former Vanderbilt football players Quincy Skinner and CJ Taylor, are also part of the overall lawsuit, but they were not part of the group seeking the injunction. The case also includes athletes from other schools who played baseball and tennis.
Patterson appeared in 13 games in 2025, recording 69 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
The judge who issued the ruling was the same judge who issued an injunction ruling Pavia eligible to play in the 2025 season when he filed a lawsuit challenging the junior college eligibility rules.
Pavia was named SEC Offensive Player of the Year and finished as Heisman runner-up in 2025. His overall case is still ongoing to determine whether the NCAA must permanently alter its junior college eligibility rules, though Pavia plans to declare for the NFL draft.
Not every eligibility case has resulted in a win for the players, though. Chris Bellamy, a former New Mexico State player who sued for an extra year of eligibility during the summer, also had his injunction denied and thus did not play for the team in 2025.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.

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