CELEBRATION, Fla. — When Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia earned an injunction from the NCAA on his lawsuit claiming his junior college years should not count against his four-year NCAA eligibility, it opened up possibilities all over the country.

Pavia's argument that his years at JUCO denied him earning opportunities with NIL earned an injunction and eligibility for the 2025 season, and shortly after the NCAA announced a temporary ruling regarding players in similar situations.

On surface, this looks like it would apply to South Carolina linebacker Bam Martin-Scott. The senior linebacker arrived in Columbia from JUCO, and would fit the terms of a player using his final season of eligibility in 2024.

So can Martin-Scott play for the Gamecocks in 2025? It's never that simple.

"We don't know yet because my case is a little different than Pavia's, with me being older" Martin-Scott said after the team's first Citrus Bowl practice. "We're still gong through the process, but I would love to come back."

The difference comesfrom Martin-Scott starting his JUCO career in 2019, a year before Pavia did. Martin-Scott's extra redshirt season means he has been in college six years, not five, and this runs in contrast to part of the NCAA's decision with a five-year window for JUCO players.

South Carolina is already working on an appeal process, and Shane Beamer confirmed he would love to have the linebacker return for the 2025 campaign.

"We would love for that to happen," Beamer said. "As soon as it happened I was in communication with him, Coach [Clayton] White was, all of us were. He would love to be able to do that, we would love to be able to do that, and we'll see what happens. Hopefully the NCAA will do the right thing."

Martin-Scott appeared in all 12 regular season games in 2024, accumulating 65 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

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