Alberto Osuna rips NCAA in open letter pleading eligibility case

Alberto Osuna is trying a new tactic to get the NCAA to grant him eligibility for the 2025 season. Osuna posted an open letter to the NCAA on Monday, blasting the organization for how it has handled his situation.

Osuna is over 5 seasons removed from high school. He was at Walters State Community College in 2020 (no season due to COVID-19) and 2021. He then transferred to North Carolina for the 2022-24 seasons.

Osuna planned to play at Tampa, a Division II program, in 2025. The NCAA’s blanket DI waiver for JUCO transfers granted via Diego Pavia’s lawsuit, however, changed those plans.

According to Osuna, he contacted the NCAA about another Division I season. He was told to file a waiver request. Osuna notes that it takes a DI institution to file for a waiver, so he needed to transfer from Tampa to a DI school to go the waiver route.

The NCAA’s blanket waiver as a result of the Pavia lawsuit is for the 2025-26 athletic season. The 2025 college baseball season is part of the 2024-25 NCAA year, and Osuna was not granted a special waiver. He tried legal action, a la Pavia, but was denied a preliminary injunction last week by United States District Judge Charles E. Atchley Jr.

Osuna finds it unfair that Pavia and others are getting a blanket waiver to not count their JUCO years for 2025-26, but he is unable to play in 2025 because he played 1 JUCO season before his 3 DI seasons.

Osuna notes that NIL opportunities at Tennessee played a role in his decision to transfer from Tampa. He mentions wanting to help his family, including his father who has not recovered 100% after back surgery.

I have many unanswered questions and I need your help,” Osuna writes in his open letter to the NCAA. “After the Blanket Waiver and a 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. It was an amazing opportunity to have the chance to come play for Coach (Tony) Vitello and the defending national champions. 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.

“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 request for a waiver.

“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 Il institution enter the 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 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?

“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 manner that is “fair and inclusive” for us. How is denying me the opportunity to play in my final season fair and inclusive?

“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 as all the others who got to play. Because it will allow me to help my family. And, because no one is harmed by letting me play.

Osuna finished the 2021 season at Walters State batting .459 with 25 home runs and leading the nation with 107 RBI in 68 games, earning NJCAA DI Player of the Year recognition.

Osuna transferred to UNC ahead of the 2022 season. Over 3 seasons, he played in 177 games, making 171 starts. He posted a .259 average with the Tar Heels, recording 140 RBIs, 167 hits and 45 home runs.

As for the Vols, they’re undefeated so far (16-0) in their defending national championship campaign. UT plays West Georgia on Tuesday before hosting Florida in the first SEC series of the season.

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.