The NCAA denied Brendan Sorsby's request for reinstatement on Tuesday, with Texas Tech's president vowing to appeal on behalf of the quarterback.
Sorsby had been declared ineligible after investigations had found he'd made thousands of dollars of bets on a variety of sports via gambling apps, violating NCAA policy.
In filing an injunction against the NCAA last week, Sorsby admitted to making the bets, including one in favor of Indiana football while he was a member of that program. He said he never
bet in a game he played in nor ever bet against his team, but the current policy prevents student-athletes from placing bets on any NCAA-sanctioned or professional sports. Players can receive permanent bans for betting on their own teams.
Sorsby's suit took aim at what he called the NCAA's "deeply hypocritical" stances on sports betting. His lawyers said in the suit that they sought a two-game suspension and the NCAA denied the ask. Now Sorsby will head to court June 1 in Lubbock County, Texas as he seeks eligibility for 2026.
Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech from Cincinnati this offseason and was the Red Raiders' projected starter for 2026. ESPN ranked Sorsby the No. 1 overall transfer in this year's class.
Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec wrote an open letter to the campus community Tuesday saying the NCAA's ruling "should be reversed or modified" given the facts and "context" of Sorsby's case.
"As a generation of college athletes face the legalization and rapid proliferation of sports betting in our country, gambling addiction is rising to the point of epidemic among college aged men in particular," Schovanec wrote. "The NCAA's stated mission includes ‘fostering (student-athletes') lifelong well-being,' and they have claimed their goal is to promote a ‘culture of care' for student athletes' mental health. Gambling addiction is a clinically recognized behavioral disorder."
Earlier Tuesday, Sorsby said in a social media post that he'd completed a 35-day, in-patient rehab stay in Arizona to treat "a diagnosed gambling addiction and anxiety disorder" last Friday.
"While I accept responsibility for my behavior and know that I have a lot of work ahead of me, for the first time in many years I feel more free and no longer fully at the mercy of my addiction," Sorsby wrote in part.
"With the support of my coaches, teammates and the university, I'm looking forward to returning to campus in Lubbock. If I'm blessed and fortunate enough to have the opportunity to continue my college career at Texas Tech, I know I will get the support I need, including through the school's Center for Students in Addiction Recovery. I am deeply sorry to everyone I've disappointed and am committed to the hard and necessary work ahead."
Schovanec said in his letter that Texas Tech will provide Sorsby "Ongoing outpatient clinical care; participation in group and individual therapy; mentor resources; treatment for his related anxiety disorder; active monitoring of his technological devices; installation of software to block betting sites from his devices; the appointment of a custodian to oversee his personal finances; and periodic compliance checks."
--Field Level Media
