The degree of Brendan Sorsby’s gambling may hamper the Texas Tech QB’s NCAA eligibility appeal.
Key Takeaways
- The NCAA started an investigation into Brendan Sorsby's gambling activity in April.
- The NCAA subsequently banned Sorsby over his extensive betting activity.
- Sorsby, with the support of Texas Tech, is seeking to regain his college eligibility.
After an investigation, the NCAA permanently banned Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby for violating its rules governing gambling. After completing a 35-day gambling addiction program, Sorsby filed an injunction against the NCAA in an attempt to regain his college eligibility. A hearing is scheduled in the Lubbock County District Court in Lubbock on Monday.
Documents submitted by Sorsby’s defense team, obtained by ESPN, detail how he used friends’ and family members’ names to place thousands of bets totaling at least $90,000 at various sportsbooks during his college tenure. He also placed at least 40 bets on Indiana while he redshirted for the Hoosiers. Sorsby’s legal team, however, denies he placed bets on games he played in for Indiana.
Sorsby, who has since been diagnosed with gambling and anxiety disorders, freely admits his gambling activity.
"Once I became part of the active roster with an opportunity to play, I immediately stopped betting on Indiana," Sorsby said in a statement. "However, my gambling on other sports did not stop; it escalated and became compulsive.
"What started small when I was in high school turned into a daily habit of betting on all kinds of sports, including some sports that I didn't follow and had no interest in like tennis and Romanian soccer. Gambling became an addiction."
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Asking for leniency
Sorsby’s lawyers argue that the NCAA should be treating this case as a mental health issue, not as a rules infraction.
"Brendan asks only for the NCAA to abide by its commitment to evaluate his reinstatement appeal based on his actual conduct and the mental health condition that spurred it," Sorsby‘s attorney Scott Tompsett wrote.
The NCAA doesn’t see it that way. The NCAA filed a motion on Friday, asking the court to deny Sorsby’s injunction, claiming his eligibility reinstatement would have “destabilizing ramifications.”
In a filing today, the NCAA requests the judge in Monday’s hearing to deny Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility as it would have “destabilizing ramifications” by making NCAA “the first and only major sports league in America to allow an athlete to compete after betting on his own games.” pic.twitter.com/YDP7wpTxk6
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 30, 2026
The NCAA is committed to crackdown on gambling infractions, working to protect the integrity of college sports amid the explosive growth of sports betting. It has made several pleas to state regulators to restrict betting on college sports and college athletes. Yet, the number of athletes betting on sports keeps growing.
A new judge will hear the case in Lubbock on Monday after Judge Philip Hayes recused himself. Hayes is an undergraduate and law school graduate of Texas Tech.
