‘Unlikely’ Alberto Osuna Will Gain Eligibility In Time To Play For Vols

Image: usatoday.com

By Cody McClure

It is unlikely that Alberto Osuna will be eligible to play baseball for Tennessee this season.

Osuna’s motion for a preliminary injunction was denied today keeping him ineligible.

“Alberto is extremely disappointed with the decision. We are weighing our options before deciding on our next steps," Osuna's lawyer Chad Hatmaker told Knox News.

This was Osuna’s second effort to gain eligibility through legal steps after his motion for a temporary restraining order was denied Feb. 13.

“Judge Charles Atchley Jr. of the United States Court of the Eastern District of Tennessee denied Osuna's motion on the grounds that Osuna's case failed to show a strong likelihood of success on its antitrust claims,” the Knox News report stated.

Osuna transferred to UT in January with hopes of playing a final season of college baseball with the Vols.

He had hoped that a ruling set in the case of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia gaining eligibility through his junior college years not counting would help Osuna, too, be granted a waiver.

But it appears Pavia’s case has not helped.

Osuna filed a lawsuit against the NCAA last month claiming that his JUCO years should not be counted against his eligibility.

Osuna played baseball for two years at the JUCO level before enrolling at North Carolina, where he played three years.

He was seeking a fourth year with the Vols.