This most recent NCAA court ruling on Wednesday is yet another step towards a new age of college athletics while also adding on to the idea and reality that the NCAA is having less power by the year.

The court ruling in question revolves around Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who wrapped up his third season of Division I football after playing two seasons at the JUCO level.

With five seasons of college football down, the current rules state that Pavia had no more eligibility to use. This led to Pavia challenging the NCAA policy that states that labels any JUCO career as one season of eligibility.

The court agreed with Pavia, establishing that any years played at the JUCO level will not count towards Division I eligibility. Due to the court’s decision, the NCAA can not enforce their previous rules in regards to JUCO and eligibility.

On the ground level, this means this: Players currently at the JUCO level now have more years of eligibility left to possibly move up to the Division I level.

This also can have an effect on recruiting, too. 

With JUCO years not counting on eligibility, players may be more inclined to go to a JUCO out of high school knowing there is always a chance they can move up. This is doubled with the current state of the college transfer portal, which has as little limitations as ever.

Now, the NCAA can still appeal this decision, but it is believed by many that it would not result in the court going back on their decision. In Pavia’s case, there is a chance he would have already been done with next season by the time this case would be resolved if the NCAA appealed it.

This can also lead to others challenging the overall NCAA eligibility policy of five-years-to-play-four rule.

With the current state of college athletics, we are at a point where we should not be surprised by massive change across all sports, and this is just another piece in that.

Garrett Pitts is the sports editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at gpitts@covnews.com.