As Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby continues his legal battle to be able to play college football this upcoming season, the NCAA filed a legal brief Friday saying that because he bet on his own team, he should not be allowed to compete in NCAA games.
On Monday judge Ken Curry heard from the NCAA and Sorsby’s representation at a hearing for Sorsby’s request for an injunction to permit him to get back on the field. The NCAA has deemed him ineligible.
Sorsby recently completed a 35-day impatient stay at a gambling rehab center, where he was diagnosed with both anxiety and gambling disorders. The NCAA praised him for his efforts, but added, “….the NCAA Bylaws are clear that his college football career has come to an end.”
Sorsby, one of the highest-ranked players in this past offseason’s transfer portal when he went from the University of Cincinnati to Texas Tech, bet over $30,000 across almost 3,000 wagers from June 2022 to December 2023, when he was at Indiana University. The most damning portion of that was the 40 games he bet on involving his own team. He did not play in any of them, nor, according to ESPN, did he have “a legitimate chance of playing.”
Athletes who bet on games involving their own team or teams representing their school face permanent ineligibility.
The NCAA did not find any evidence that he influenced any on-field performances or used inside information.
All told, Sorsby bet around $90,000 in a four-year period, using accounts on Hard Rock Bet, FanDuel, Underdog, and PrizePicks in his name, friends’ names, and family members’ names. He also had friends place tens of thousands of dollars in wagers for him.
In arguing that his client should be allowed to play college football this year, attorney Scott Tompsett wrote in a letter to the NCAA, “Brendan has a mental health condition that predisposed him to compulsively use predatory and addictive online gambling apps.”
Sorsby’s counsel has claimed that he would suffer “irreparable” harm if he cannot play for Texas Tech. NCAA attorney Taylor Askew rebutted that, saying that Sorsby already played multiple years when he shouldn’t have because of his gambling. The NCAA has no problem with him playing elsewhere; he is considered a top NFL prospect and could enter the supplemental draft by the June 22 deadline.
In its court filings, the NCAA argued that granting Sorsby the injunction would be unprecedented.
“It would effectively sanction sports gambling by the most vulnerable student-athletes — those suffering from a gambling addiction could continue to bet, knowing they could follow Plaintiff’s lead and rush to court if caught,” NCAA attorneys wrote. “It would create unfair outcomes for the many student-athletes who have resisted the temptation to gamble, or who have gambled and been punished under the same rules Plaintiff now seeks to evade. … And it would undermine the integrity of college athletics by rewarding conduct that is universally prohibited in American sports.”
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