Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar and his trio of lawyers entered Knox County Chancery Court at 1:18 p.m. Friday.
More than two hours later, judge Chris Heagarty adjourned court with no decision on Aguilar’s pursuit of an injunction.
“I can’t rule from the bench on this,” Heagarty said. “These issues are far reaching.”
Heagarty vowed to Aguilar that he would have a decision in short order, noting Aguilar was under a time constraint. He extended the temporary restraining order, allow Aguilar to be part of the Vols as he works through his decision. Heagarty granted Aguilar the temporary restraining order on Feb. 4.
Heagarty opened the hearing at 1:28. The tone of the hearing quickly took shape. The NCAA said prior to the hearing that the court “bled orange”, but it clearly didn’t feel that way.
The point of the hearing never really centered around junior college eligibility. The focus was on money and money lost by not having another year of eligibility.
The opening statement from Aguilar’s lawyer, Cam Norris, went for nearly an hour. Heagarty interacted with Norris on numerous occasions asking several follow-up questions to points made in Aguilar’s claim.
“I can’t base my decision on conjecture … you don’t hand out injunctions like popcorn. I need evidence,” Heagarty said.
At 2:23, the NCAA lawyers made their opening statement, making it very clear that the case is about an injunction and under NCAA rules Aguilar is not eligible.
Two minutes in, Heagarty started his interaction with NCAA lawyer Taylor Askew by asking questions.
Heagarty noted during his questioning of the NCAA that Aguilar would suffer damages if not allowed to play. But neither side has a market value to know what the definitive damage amount is.
Askew, a Knoxville native and Tennessee fan, closed his opening statement but turning to Aguilar and thanked him.
“I love Tennessee football,” said Askew, a Tennessee law school graduate. “My kids love watching (Aguilar) play. But Tennessee is better than this. We don’t have to go to court to get our guy back (on the field). We don’t do that in Tennessee. He is a hero in Tennessee. We didn’t know who he was until Nico left.
“We can make that decision without taking anything away from Mr. Aguilar. You’re a hero to kids around this city. But it doesn’t mean we break the rules. It doesn’t mean the Vols get something everybody else doesn’t.”
Back in November, Aguilar attached himself to a lawsuit led by Diego Pavia seeking another year of eligibility on the basis that his second junior college season shouldn’t count against his NCAA eligibility.
Aguilar asked for a voluntary dismissal from that case on Jan. 30 to file his own separate case in Knox County Court. Aguilar was granted the dismissal from the federal case. He immediately filed his own case locally. He sought a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. Aguilar received the temporary restraining order, which allowed him to return to team activities until his injunction lawsuit could be heard and ruled on.
Aguilar threw for 3,565 yards and 24 touchdowns in 13 games as Tennessee’s starting quarterback in 2025. He led the Vols to an 8-5 record.
The Vols have a roster spot and NIL money in place for Aguilar to return, his lawsuit stated.
“Tennessee has a spot for him on the roster and would welcome him back,” Aguilar’s complaint filed on January 30th stated.
“His compensation for playing college football in 2026 would be approximately $2 million. So by counting his JUCO years against him, the NCAA is depriving Aguilar of millions of dollars.”
The lawsuit noted Aguilar’s season with the Vols as the only time he has been able to earn “significant money” playing football, making more than $1 million from the 2025 season.
“The 2025 season also marked the first time the California native earned significant money for playing football,” the lawsuit stated. “From 2019 to 2023, he earned nothing. But in one season at Tennessee, Aguilar earned over $1 million.”
Aguilar is recovering from shoulder surgery where he had a benign tumor removed.