Many of us learn when we are young that actions have consequences.
Unfortunately, in the eyes of Texas Tech and Lubbock County Judge Ken Curry, this is only a suggestion.
Tech recently appealed to the NCAA’s decision to prevent quarterback Brendan Sorsby from competing in the 2026 season because of his gambling involvement.
On Monday in the 99th District Court, Curry agreed with Tech, and the quarterback will be eligible for the upcoming season.
His only punishment? A two-game suspension to start the season. Anything else would cause Sorsby to suffer “a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury” as his attorneys argued, and Curry agreed. Nothing beats a hometown crowd unless it’s a hometown judge, we guess.
The decision by Tech to appeal the NCAA’s ruling was disheartening. But the ruling by Curry to agree with Tech and only give a two-game suspension in response is insulting.
Simply put, their decisions directly attack the integrity of college sports.
While Tech officials may think they have won, those across collegiate athletics have a different perspective.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that several universities and conferences are considering removing Tech from all their athletic schedules. Georgia and Nebraska have already instructed their coaches to begin this process.
Good on those institutions for taking a stand. When someone knowingly breaks the rules, consequences must be faced. It is encouraging that the sentiment around Tech’s decision supports that idea.
Tech apparently never had an interest in doing what was right for the game. They tried to disguise their actions under the pretense of supporting Sorsby by giving him the help he deserved. Tech’s president, Lawrence Schovanec, doubled down, attempting to paint the university’s actions as doing what was right to protect the integrity of college sports.
That was transparently untrue. The beneficiary here was always Tech, not the common good. In this case that meant putting people in seats, and Sorsby was key to that happening.
Tech will now have to face serious repercussions for what has transpired. Unfortunately, this will have to come at the cost of more than 400 student athletes who have been caught in the middle.
Tech became so concerned with protecting one athlete that it forgot about its institutional responsibility to protect the rest. Now every single student athlete will have to maneuver through yet another challenge in an already challenging period of change.
The past six years have been a time of transition for college sports. In the era of name, image and likeness and revenue share a new landscape has been created. While transition means change, that does not mean that principles need to be disregarded. Unfortunately for Tech, that was the case, and now they will face the consequences for their actions.
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