Georgia Baseball Player Latest to Sue NCAA for More Eligibility

Another eligibility lawsuit has hit the NCAA.

University of Georgia baseball player Dylan Goldstein is suing the NCAA in order to receive a waiver for an extra year of availability due to his time in junior college.

The suit, first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia on Tuesday.

It alleges, like Diego Pavia’s successful suit from last year, that constraining NCAA eligibility based on time spent in junior college violates antitrust law. Goldstein’s suit cites Pavia’s “nearly identical case.”

Pavia had a breakout season as Vanderbilt’s quarterback last year, after spending two years at a junior college, two years at New Mexico State, and a fifth year at Vanderbilt.

A judge issued an injunction in Pavia’s case in December allowing him to return to Vanderbilt for the 2025 college football season. The NCAA later issued a blanket waiver to all athletes in similar positions to Pavia for the 2025-26 academic year while also appealing the injunction, which only applied to Pavia.

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors said in December when issuing the waiver that a “comprehensive eligibility review” meant to “create an eligibility framework that is sustainable and can withstand scrutiny” is ongoing.

Both Pavia’s and Goldstein’s lawsuits also argued that the NCAA’s eligibility rules counting time spent playing sports at non-NCAA schools are hypocritical since no such restrictions exist for athletes who played sports at prep schools outside the U.S.

Goldstein spent last season, his first with Georgia, as an outfielder and designated hitter. He hit 12 home runs. Before transferring to the Bulldogs, Goldstein spent two seasons at Chipola College, a junior college in Marianna, Fla., and two seasons at Division I school Florida Atlantic University.

Several other athletes, including Southern Mississippi basketball player John Wade and Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean, have filed similar suits after being denied NCAA waivers like Goldstein.