A Lubbock County judge has granted the injunction request by Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby, according to court documents on Monday morning. One of the most notable transfer portal additions of the offseason is now set to be eligible for the 2026 season.
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Judge Ken Curry ruled the NCAA is cannot prevent Sorsby from practicing or playing on Texas Tech’s football team.
Attorneys for Sorsby and the NCAA presented arguments before a district judge last week as the transfer quarterback sought an injunction to allow him to play next season after he acknowledged making thousands of impermissible bets while in college.
According to the latest ruling, Sorsby will not participate in Texas Tech’s first two games as a condition of the injunction. The Red Raiders begin the season against Abilene Christian and Oregon State.
Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney who negotiated the House settlement against the NCAA and is now representing Sorsby, requested a ruling by June 15. That would have been a week before the deadline for Sorsby to apply for the NFL supplemental draft if he remained ineligible to play for the Red Raiders this fall.
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Kessler told the court the 22-year-old Sorsby has a diagnosed addiction and anxiety-driven compulsion. He said the quarterback was never motivated by financial gain in his gambling and never sought to alter or compromise the outcome of a game. Sorsby, who transferred to Texas Tech for a reported multimillion-dollar deal after playing for Cincinnati the past two seasons, recently completed a month-long residential treatment program for gambling addiction.
According to a clinician who treated Sorsby, Kessler said, not allowing the quarterback to play would hurt his mental health and impede the progress of his recovery.
NCAA lead attorney Taylor Askew questioned how being allowed to play again in college, and putting him back into the situation that triggered his behavior, would help Sorsby’s mental health. As for NCAA rules, Askew said, Sorsby would have been ruled ineligible long ago had his gambling been known in the past.
Court filings revealed that on March 11 the NCAA received a tip from an online gambling book, which had been informed by law enforcement, about Sorsby’s gambling activity. Texas Texas was notified April 14 that the NCAA was doing an investigation.
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Texas Tech announced on April 27 that Sorsby was taking an indefinite leave of absence to enter a residential treatment program.
More to come on this story. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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