Oklahoma AG says Big 12 can punish Texas Tech under bylaws

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Friday urged the Big 12 Conference to take action against Texas Tech over quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s gambling violations, calling Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s antitrust arguments against sanctions “meritless.”

Drummond said Oklahoma has “a direct interest in the integrity of Conference competition” because Oklahoma State is a Big 12 member.

“The claims asserted in the letter are meritless,” Drummond wrote. “The idea that the Big 12 may not sanction the actions of one of its members under an agreed-upon preexisting contract is facially absurd.”

Drummond cited Big 12 Bylaw 3.6, which allows the conference to sanction a member school if a “Supermajority of Disinterested Directors” finds it engaged in conduct “materially adverse to the best interests of the Conference as a whole.”

He said Texas Tech’s efforts to secure eligibility for Sorsby followed the NCAA declaring the quarterback permanently ineligible for wagering on college sports, including games involving his own team.

“Brendan Sorsby broke NCAA rules by wagering roughly $90,000 on sports over four years,” Drummond wrote. “He even bet forty times on games involving his own team during his freshman season at Indiana.”

Drummond also argued a court injunction involving Sorsby applies only to the NCAA and “does not impede the Big 12 from suspending Sorsby,” adding that his office “stands ready to assist the Big 12” if the conference faces pushback for enforcing its bylaws.

“If Texas Tech will not do the right thing, the Big 12 should,” Drummond wrote.

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