The talk across the nation is the court case between Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguiilar and the NCAA. On Friday afternoon, the two parties met in front of Knox County Judge Chris Heagerty to state their case on the matter. Joey Aguilars case is complex, yet also very simple. His time at the JUCO level shouldn't count towards his NCAA clock. He has only played in three seasons of NCAA football; therefore, he should be able to play his final year at Tennessee.
Josh Heupel and Vols fans have been watching this case very closely. If Joey Aguilar is able to play one more year, the Vols would have the SEC leader in passing yards last fall calling the plays for them. They bring back a stacked offense with Mike Matthews, DeSean Bishop, Ethan Davis, and Braylon Staley. The only missing piece is a veteran signal-caller to mesh it all together,
The most disappointing part about Friday is that Judge Heagerty said that he would not rule from the bench and there would be a delay. But maybe this is actually a win for the Vols and Aguilar.
Why its a win for Aguilar
If Aguilar didn’t have a case, it would likely have been dismissed immediately. The fact that the judge is taking time to review everything shows that Aguilar’s argument is compelling and that this is a complex case with potential consequences for many people’s futures.
This is a tough one to call so far, as both arguments presented in court on Friday were strong. But ultimately, this delay is bad for the NCAA in my opinion because Aguilar was noted by the judge to have suffered "some kind of damages." He sees a well-thought-out plan from Aguilar and his lawyers, so we could see some movement soon.
It's worth noting that Judge Heagerty is a Tennessee graduate, but his roots as a Vol shouldn't interfere with the state law. Its not explicetly stated when he will make his final decison, but one can only hope its pretty soon. I can't imagine this drags out any longer than a couple of weeks.