Former Western Kentucky football player Victory Vaka has been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA in Rutherford County Chancery Court. The NCAA is required to rule him as eligible within 24 hours and immediately permit his entry into the transfer portal.
Vaka had filed a lawsuit in Tennessee against the NCAA for more eligibility, his attorney Darren Heitner told The Courier Journal on Aug. 2.
The defensive lineman lost his scholarship after taking time away from the program to grieve his mother, Sarah Mataele, after she died unexpectedly on April 2. Western Kentucky acknowledged his situation and granted Vaka permission to fly home and attend Mataele's funeral.
According to Vaka, an assistant strength coach called him nine days before the funeral and told the defensive lineman he needed to return to Bowling Green by June. Though that date had already been set, Vaka's position coach reached out May 26 to ask him where he was. Travis Taylor, the chief of staff at Western Kentucky, told Vaka and his agent one day later that the program had decided to revoke his scholarship.
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Following the incident, Vaka intended to enter the transfer portal, but was unable to do so after Western Kentucky designated Vaka as a "failure to report," a disciplinary dismissal that made him ineligible for the exemption. As a result, he was unable to enter the transfer portal.
After the program had made its decision and the NCAA also denied his legislative relief waiver, Vaka was set to be one semester from graduating with no path to transfer and use his final season of eligibility. Now, he'll have the opportunity to change that.
Vaka, a former three-star recruit, began his career at BYU but did not play. The 6-foot-3, 335-pound defensive lineman spent two seasons at College of the Canyons, one season at Northern Arizona and the 2025 season at Texas Southern before landing at Western Kentucky in January for his final season of eligibility.
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College sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus contributed to this report.
Reach sports trending writer Alaina Morris at amorris@gannett.com and follow her on X at @alainammorris.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Victory Vaka granted injunction, can enter transfer portal after suing NCAA
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