NCAA Opposes Injunction Allowing Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby to Play After Gambling Violations

The NCAA filed a legal brief late Friday in district court in Lubbock, Texas, opposing quarterback Brendan Sorsby's request for an injunction that would allow him to play for Texas Tech this season. A hearing on the request is scheduled for Monday in Lubbock.

The NCAA stated in its brief that granting the injunction would make it the first major American sports league to allow an athlete who bet on their own games to continue to compete.

The filing said the injunction would have broad-ranging and destabilizing ramifications and would undermine the integrity of college athletics. Sorsby was diagnosed with gambling and anxiety disorders during a 35-day inpatient stay at a gambling rehabilitation center in Arizona, according to his attorneys.

His attorneys have asked the NCAA to treat his violations of the gambling policy as a mental health condition.

At Indiana, as a scout team and backup quarterback, Sorsby placed at least 2,900 bets totaling more than $30,000 from June 2022 through December 2023, according to court documents. His bets included 40 on games involving the Hoosiers, but none on games in which he was involved or had a legitimate chance of playing.

The NCAA has not found evidence of attempts to manipulate Sorsby's performance or that inside information was used to place any of the bets.

Student-athletes are prohibited from betting on any NCAA-sanctioned sport, college or professional, and face permanent loss of eligibility if found to have wagered on games involving their own team or another team in a different sport at their school.

The NCAA became aware of Sorsby's gambling on March 11 after receiving information from an online sportsbook that had been notified by law enforcement. The NCAA informed Texas Tech of its investigation on April 14 and asked for phone and betting records and to interview Sorsby to determine the full scope of his sports betting activity.

Cincinnati received an alert on Sorsby's activity on daily fantasy site PrizePicks on Aug. 19, 2024. Sorsby spoke with the school's compliance team about the matter and received sports wagering education.

The court filings show that Sorsby placed at least 165 bets, totaling at least $38,000, while at Cincinnati and transferred more than $60,000 to a friend to deposit in a sportsbook account they shared. The NCAA stated that Sorsby should be commended for seeking treatment and is free to continue his playing career elsewhere.

The NCAA wrote that its Bylaws are clear that Sorsby's college football career has come to an end.

In November, NCAA membership voted to rescind a proposed rule amendment that would have allowed student-athletes to bet on professional sports. Texas Tech was among the schools that voted to rescind the rule. The NCAA asserted that Sorsby's lawsuit attracted media attention and scrutiny at the precise time he states he is undergoing treatment for a serious mental health condition.

The NCAA wrote that it did not demand that Sorsby interrupt the residential treatment program he had begun weeks earlier.