NCAA, Sorsby Attorneys Clash Over Gambling, Mental Health at Hearing

The fate of the Texas Tech Red Raiders' upcoming season now rests in the hands of a Lubbock County District Court following a two-hour hearing on Monday. Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s attorneys are hoping to restore his eligibility for the upcoming 2026 college football season via a temporary injunction. Judge Ken Curry will preside over the case and he is seeking more documentation ahead of a decision expected within the next few days. Sorsby’s attorneys would like an answer by June 15, as the important NFL supplemental draft deadline falls on June 22.

Their argument is simple: Sorsby’s well-being has been ignored by the NCAA in this investigation as they frame his issues as mental health and addiction, which instead of punishing, the NCAA is supposed to support. This all comes following a 35-day stint in inpatient rehab for Sorsby where he was diagnosed with gambling and anxiety disorders. They also argue that he never shared any insider information or sought to influence games to win what were thousands of bets placed on both college and professional sports, including on his own team.

For the NCAA, they argue that they did consider his mental health, but still find him permanently ineligible as support doesn’t equate to absolving a person of clear consequences for prohibited gambling. A change in their decision-making would set a precedent as the first sports league to allow such gambling to take place without punishment.

To read more about this landmark case and potential ruling, here is the full story from Red Raiders Roundtable writer Nick Teague.

This all comes over $90k in wages placed by Sorsby in four years, with at least 40 bets on his own Indiana Hoosiers’ football team. Texas Tech requests a mere two-game suspension for the actions. The other option for Sorsby is to enter the NFL supplemental draft, where he would undoubtedly be the most intriguing and noteworthy prospect since Josh Gordon entered it in 2012.