Tennessee Baseball Players Issues Letter to NCAA Amid Lawsuit

Tennessee baseball player Alberto Osuna released a letter to the NCAA amid his lawsuit.

A big topic around Tennessee baseball as of late has not only been their hot start to the season but Alberto Osuna’s ongoing lawsuit against the NCAA. Osuna is fighting for another year of eligibility behind the stance of him spending two years in JUCO.

This stems from Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia receiving an extra year of eligibility due to him spending a season playing JUCO football. The argument is that JUCO years should not count for athletes as they are not able to earn NIL deals while playing in that division of football.

The court has sense ruled that Osuna failed to demonstrate a strong likelihood of success on his Sherman Antitrust Act claim because he did not establish that the JUCO Rule produces substantial anticompetitive effects in the market for Division I athletics. Osuna responded by releasing this letter on X, directed to the NCAA.

“I have many unanswered questions and I need your help. After the Blanket Waiver and a conversation with you, I uprooted my life and moved to another city with the expectation that I could continue to play the game that I love. It was an amazing opportunity to have the chance to come play for Coach Vitello and the defending national champions. But I also came here for the NIL potential that didn’t exist at Tampa and to be able to help my family and I financially. To help my father who underwent back surgery and hasn’t been able to get back to 100% since then. The NIL opportunities potentially available to me could reach six figures and would change my life and benefit my family. You have denied me those opportunities even though I did what you said, and I don’t know what I could have done differently
When I called several times at the beginning of January and asked about my Division I eligibility I told you my entire playing his-tory-2 years at Walters State with one cancelled due to COVID, 3 at UNC and that I was currently at Tampa, on the team but no games against outside competition. You told me to file a waiver. Of course, you knew that no student-athlete can file a waiver individually. A D1 institution must file the waiver. You knew that for me to file a waiver I had to enter the transfer portal, commit to a D1 school and leave Tampa. And after I did all of that, as you instructed me to do, you have opposed my request for a waiver.
If you were going to oppose my waiver all along, why did you tell me to file one? Why did you allow me to enter the transfer portal? Why did you let all of the student-athletes in their last season of competition at a Division II institution enter the portal?
Why would you not provide clarity when I asked for it? Why has the NCAA not yet released the Q&A or other guidance for the Blanket Waiver? Why do you think the University of Tennessee told me about the Q&A when they recruited me?
Why when I submitted my waiver did you not timely review it? By telling me to file a waiver and then taking no action on it you left me with no choice but to go to court, pay thousands and thousands of dollars that I cannot afford to fight to play this year or forfeit my remaining eligibility because you refused to help me,
Why were the few Spring 25 student-athletes like me, who still have time left on their eligibility clock, are enrolled in school and have a roster spot, not included in the Blanket Waiver? We are the same as Diego Pavia and all of those covered by the Blanket Waiver. Why is the value of my student-athlete experience not as important as everyone who received the Blanket Waiver?
How is the NCAA harmed by letting me play? It is not. But I am irreparably harmed by not getting to play in my final season.
The NCAA makes over a billion dollars annually off the backs of student-athletes! It claims that it is there to protect and serve the student-athletes and to act in a manner that is “fair and inclusive” for us. How is denying me the opportunity to play in my final season fair and inclusive?
This is your opportunity to prioritize the well-being of student-athletes. Grant me my immediate eligibility because it’s the right thing to do. Because doing so would align with the principles of student-athlete welfare that you say your organization prioritizes more than anything else. Because it will put me in the same position as all the others who get to play. Because it will allow me to help my family. And, because no one is harmed by letting me play.”