Alberto Osuna is not currently allowed to play college baseball at Tennessee because of a confusing ruling handed down by the NCAA. He wants answers about the process, which took place entirely behind closed doors without any semblance of transparency, and the governing body’s decision.
It could go one of two ways. The NCAA will either let him play or end his career. The latter might make this entire situation even more litigious than it already is. We’ll see.
Osuna, a sixth-year senior, began his college baseball career at Walters State Community College in 2020. The South Carolina-native later transferred to play at North Carolina in 2022. He had three years of eligibility remaining because his freshman season was shortened by the pandemic.
Not only did the Tar Heels reach the College World Series in 2024, Osuna hit 45 home runs during his time with the program— the fifth-most in school history. Needless to say, he can swing it.
Osuna exhausted his eligibility on the Division-I level at the end of last season because he already played five years of college baseball. Well, five including the waiver in 2020. As a result, in lieu of the MLB Draft, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound first baseman transferred to the University of Tampa as a graduate transfer in July. The Spartans compete on the Division-II level so the eligibility issues did not apply.
Here is where things got murky. Alberto Osuna spent the entire fall semester in Tampa but he decided to take a gamble at the beginning of February.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia received a temporary restraining order against the NCAA in December. It allows him to play another season of college football because a judge ruled that his time at a junior college should not count against his eligibility.
Osuna saw Pavia’s ruling and followed suit, literally, and transferred from Tampa to Tennessee. He joined the reigning national champions just two weeks before the start of the season.
However, Osuna’s case was separate from Pavia’s. In response to the court’s initial ruling regarding Vanderbilt’s quarterback, the NCAA provided a blanket waiver to former JUCO athletes who used their third year of Division-I eligibility during the 2024-25 school year. Osuna used his third year of D-I eligibility during the 2023-24 school year so the waiver did not apply. He was also denied a preliminary injunction by a judge on March 3 that would’ve allowed him to play right away.
Because Plaintiff fails to show a strong likelihood of success on his claims under the Sherman Act and state law, his Motion for Preliminary Injunction is DENIED. The Court is sympathetic to Plaintiff’s position. For an organization that professes to prioritize the well-being of its student-athletes, the NCAA’s conduct has in many ways been questionable at best and self-interested at worst. Still, Plaintiff’s extraordinary talents cannot alone justify the extraordinary remedy he seeks.
— United States District Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr.
The NCAA also Alberto Osuna as ineligible.
Even though the sixth-year graduate transfer is enrolled in classes at the University of Tennessee, he is not allowed to play for the baseball program. Osuna wants answers and penned a letter to the NCAA. It opens with an honest discussion about NIL money.
I have many unanswered questions and I need your help. After the Blanket Waiver and 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. 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.
— Alberto Osuna
From there, Osuna lays out his view of what happened.
When I called several times at the beginning of January and asked about my Division I eligibility I told you my entire playing history— 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 question for a waiver.
— Alberto Osuna
And then it gets into the questions.
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 transfer 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 a 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?
— Alberto Osuna
At this point, Osuna points his finger back at the NCAA.
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 matter that is “fair and inclusive” for us. How is denying me the opportunity to play in my final season fair and inclusive?
— Alberto Osuna
The letter concludes with a call to action. More of a demand, perhaps.
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 ass 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.
— Alberto Osuna
PHEW! Albert Osuna (with help from his legal council) took direct aim at the governing body of college sports and pulled the trigger. He asked questions of the NCAA that it will not be able to answer. He also forced them into a guilt trip with the mention of his father.
There is nothing more for Osuna to lose so this letter feels a little bit like one last Hail Mary. And even though I question some of the wording and its tone, the letter makes a compelling case for him to be eligible. What does it hurt to let him play?