NCAA Blunt on Saying Texas Tech’s Brendan Sorsby’s Career Should Be Done

The NCAA has had pretty cut and dry rules surrounding sports gambling by college athletes, and it’s even more straightforward when it comes to prohibition of betting on their own games. Yet, Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby has been fighting to become the first major exception to that rule. In Texas court, the NCAA warned that this would be the state of college sports into uncharted waters they can’t swim back from should they allow a player who bet on his own contests to remain eligible. They filed a legal brief Friday outlining their opposition while emphasizing the scale of his gambling as the Red Raiders try to argue that they’ve intentionally delayed things while not being thoughtful towards Sorbsy’s time in gambling rehab.

Well, his time spent in rehab doesn’t negate the fact that he simply broke the rules with laid out consequences. The NCAA argues that this could “destabilize” college sports – more than things already are – and that in injunction would make this the first time an athlete in a major American sports league was allowed to bet on their own games. It’s a precedent that could prey on similarly inclined athletes with a proclivity for gambling to fall down the rabbit hole. Moreover, it wouldn’t be fair to the athletes who have already faced the consequences for breaking these same rules.

Sorsby placed at least 2,900 bets while with the Indiana Hoosiers that were more than $30k and had at least 40 bets on games by the Hoosiers, though he wasn’t active in any. Once transferring to Cincinnati, he bet at least 165 times for over $38k – he also transferred tens of thousands to friends who shared a sportsbook account.

To read more about the situation that Texas Tech faces, here is the full story from Red Raiders Roundtable writer Timothy Hamm.

Sorsby’s lawyers argue that his gambling compulsion is a mental health issue as he was diagnosed with gambling and anxiety disorders after an inpatient rehab stint. It just doesn’t absolve the actions taken and the clear consequences that already feel laid out.