An interesting legal case has been going on that is changing the entire landscape of college football. This case involves Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia and the NCAA and surrounds his eligibility as he was fighting for one more year of college eligibility.
And long story short, the court ruled that Pavia can have one more year of eligibility because they are not counting a season at the Junior College level against his four years of division one eligibility. So this means that any player that spent any time at the JUCO level can still play at the division one level for four seasons.
This ruling does impact a key player for Georgia, as Graham Coffey with Dawg Central points out below, and grants this player another season of eligibility that he probably deserves.
This ruling basically says JUCO seasons shouldn’t be counted against a player’s 4 years of eligibility
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) December 18, 2024
UGA WR Colbie Young started his college career with a season of JUCO ball at Lackawanna College in Pennsylvania.
This injunction could open the door for him to return in 2025 https://t.co/DF4bKToyLn
Georgia WR Colbie Young
As Coffey points out above, Georgia football wide receiver Colbie Young can now play at Georgia in 2025 because of this ruling because his first season in college was speant at the JUCO level. This is a huge development for Young because his 2024 season was cut short due to his own legal issues he has battling.
The hope for Young last week as that the charges brought against him surrounding a domestic incident earlier this season would be dropped, which the women involved in the case requested multiple times. However, the charges were unfortunately not dropped, meaning that the court will go forward with a trial preventing Young from making his return during the College Football Playoff.
Regardless of what happens in Yonug's case however, he can still play another season of college football in 2025 because of this ruling with Vandebilt's QB. Obviously Young needs to avoid being found guilty in his case for any of this to matter, but if that occurs then it would be very likely that he does return to Georgia for one more season.
Young recorded 11 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns in the five games he played in this season. This lack of production, while it isn't necessarily his fault, will likely prevent him from being able to make it in the NFL this offseason. But this year extra year of eligibility could be exctly what Young needs to prove himself at the college level and make it to the NFL after on more season in Athens.