SouthernWorldwide.com – A district court judge in Lubbock, Texas, will be at the center of attention this Monday afternoon as legal representatives for Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby aim to secure a pivotal injunction against the NCAA. This legal maneuver could potentially allow him to participate in the upcoming season, following his admission of placing thousands of bets over the last four years, which notably included wagers on his own team.
The unfolding gambling controversy involving the Red Raiders’ currently ineligible star quarterback has garnered significant attention across the college athletics landscape. Sorsby’s tenure at Texas Tech might be cut short after a mere five months.
Now, in court documents filed in Lubbock district court and obtained by OutKick, Sorsby’s attorneys are presenting their case with full force, hoping a judge will grant him the injunction necessary to play. A key component of their argument relies on the medical diagnosis provided by a doctor affiliated with an Arizona rehabilitation center.
In their bid to persuade the judge to rule against the NCAA, Sorsby’s legal team submitted a substantial amount of information to the court on Friday. This included details explaining how the quarterback managed to place such a large volume of bets while he was a student at Indiana, Cincinnati, and Texas Tech.
The extent of the money wagered was first reported by ESPN’s David Purdum.
According to a 111-page affidavit, the quarterback placed bets totaling $90,000 over the past four years, dating back to his freshman year with the Indiana Hoosiers. Sorsby, as detailed by his attorneys in the filing, utilized multiple betting applications, including FanDuel, Underdog, Hard Rock Bet, and PrizePicks, to place his wagers.
However, he did not act alone in this endeavor. He enlisted the assistance of friends to place bets on various sports, encompassing the NBA, PGA Tour, and MLB, in addition to college football.
The quarterback acknowledged transferring at least $60,000 to friends who were placing bets on his behalf.
Perhaps the most critical of these instances occurred while he was a scout-team quarterback at Indiana. Sorsby, through the legal filing, admitted to placing at least 2,900 wagers, amounting to over $30,000, during his time in Bloomington.
Wagering on his own team has led to the Texas Tech QB losing his eligibility
These detrimental bets took place during the 2022 season. Sorsby claims he placed at least 40 different wagers on his own football team during his redshirt season. The court filing indicates that the quarterback made bets ranging from $1 to $114 over a two-month period between September and October of that year.
In his defense, Sorsby asserts that he only bet on the Hoosiers to win. He also states that he ceased placing bets before he played in his Indiana debut, which was against Penn State that season. NCAA regulations permit a player to participate in up to four games while still retaining their redshirt status.
Furthermore, NCAA rules strictly prohibit student-athletes from wagering on any sport that has a championship game at the collegiate level. This means that betting on one’s own team to win is unequivocally against the rules. For this violation, along with thousands of other bets placed on different sports, the NCAA has declared Sorsby ineligible for the upcoming 2026 season.
In a prior legal motion, the attorneys representing Sorsby accused the NCAA of failing to support the quarterback through this situation. Instead, they argued, the NCAA is using his gambling addiction against him.
“Mr. Sorsby is currently ineligible to play for Texas Tech due to prior violations of the NCAA’s sports gambling rules. Rather than support a student-athlete’s recovery from a gambling addiction, the NCAA has weaponized his condition to shore up a facade of competitive integrity,” the complaint stated.
While Sorsby maintains that he “never bet on the Indiana team and/or individual members of the team in a game in which he participated. He did not engage in any activity designed to influence the outcome or integrity of an intercollegiate contest or in an effort to affect win-loss margins,” he faces a significant challenge.
Gambling continued with the Red Raiders, using friends to place bets
There were questions regarding whether Sorsby had stopped gambling after enrolling at Texas Tech. However, the quarterback admitted in the filing that his addiction continued to worsen while he was in Lubbock.
Documents indicate that Brendan was using the accounts of two friends to place bets. He also admitted to sending $5,000 to these same friends so they could gamble on MLB, NBA, and PGA Tour events on his behalf.
“Given the money I had and earned from NIL, the total amount of money I made from 2022 to 2025 was not a big deal to me. I never kept track of my betting over time, but I’m pretty sure I lost more than I won,” Sorsby stated in the filing.
However, considering all that has transpired over the past four years, and with Sorsby recently completing a 35-day stay at a rehabilitation clinic in Arizona, the quarterback continues to receive support from Texas Tech.
In a letter sent to the NCAA on Friday concerning his fight for reinstatement, the university reiterated its stance that a two-game suspension would suffice as punishment.
“By imposing a two-game suspension on Sorsby and allowing him to continue his final season of eligibility, the NCAA would not be creating bad precedent, nor flouting existing precedent,” the school noted. “This is a case of first, and perhaps last, impression.
“Has the NCAA ever had an athlete who admitted to placing thousands of bets, and the only bets on his former team were for his team to win when he was not suited up for the game and when the student’s physician indicated he placed those bets due to an adjustment disorder with anxiety that caused him to place those bets to feel part of the team?”
Is the punishment fitting for the crime? Red Raiders are advocating for Sorsby
Texas Tech firmly believes that a two-game suspension would be an appropriate consequence for Sorsby admitting to placing bets on his former team while he was on the roster.
The Red Raiders, along with Brendan’s attorneys, are essentially portraying the NCAA as the antagonist in this situation.
“Imposing a career-ending sanction on Sorsby will send the message to current and future athletes hiding in the shadows of the stigma of mental health challenges and addiction that they need to stay silent and never seek help or treatment because the NCAA will take a punitive approach by automatically applying the maximum sanction,” Texas Tech argued.
It is important to note that Brendan Sorsby did not disclose his gambling issues until the NCAA became aware of his past transgressions. Texas Tech was also unaware of the problem when he enrolled at the school. The investigation was initiated by a tip to the NCAA.
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Now, Sorsby, along with Texas Tech and the entire collegiate athletics community, awaits a district court ruling that could significantly alter the current landscape of college sports.
