{"id":307695,"date":"2026-05-25T07:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T07:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/307695\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T07:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T07:35:08","slug":"texas-techs-qb-brendan-sorsby-is-ineligible-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/307695\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech’s QB Brendan Sorsby is ineligible to play"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a U.S. soldier has been accused of using classified information to bet on a dictator\u2019s ouster<\/a>, it seems a bit harsh to pillory college athlete Brendan Sorsby for wagering on his team his freshman year. The Texas Tech transfer only violated NCAA rules and is not accused of point-shaving or betting against his team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, he had to know what he was doing was wrong. Our sympathy is limited even if we do worry about the hold addictive online gambling has gotten on so many young men.<\/p>\n

Sorsby\u2019s story is a chapter in the long, extraordinarily expensive drama known as college sports. Money and legalized gambling have overwhelmed powerhouse universities, and the NCAA has struggled to respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NCAA\u2019s rules about betting on your own team are clear: do it and you will be permanently ineligible to play college sports. Sorsby, who played football at Lake Dallas High School in Corinth, has admitted to gambling on his team while he was at Indiana University, according to ESPN. Those wagers were among the thousands of online bets he made on sports ranging from Turkish basketball to Romanian soccer while at Indiana and later, the University of Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

He announced he was transferring to Tech in January, and agreed to an NIL deal valued at $6 million, this newspaper reported. In April, Sorsby entered a residential treatment program for gambling addiction.<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas Tech declared last week that its would-be quarterback is ineligible. Case closed.<\/p>\n

Or maybe not. Being ruled ineligible was a necessary step before Tech could request his reinstatement. Sorsby and his legal team also filed suit <\/a>against the NCAA in a state district court in Lubbock, accusing the association of delaying his case and asking for a temporary injunction that would allow him to play for Tech in the fall.<\/p>\n

Sorsby is not playing around. In court documents, Dustin Burrows, also known as the Speaker of the Texas House, is noted as an attorney of record. Five lawyers have requested to join the case for the plaintiff. Sorsby\u2019s original petition and application for an injunction total more than 1,000 pages.<\/p>\n

This is insanity. It was already hard to discern any connection between powerhouse universities\u2019 high-dollar coach and player deals and universities\u2019 academic missions. Online sports gambling<\/a> is only making it worse.<\/p>\n

The NCAA should fight for its rules against betting. Sorsby can still declare for the NFL draft, though his gambling addiction could haunt him there. Whether he would be a serious prospect there is hard to say in any event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not having Sorsby on the field would be tough for Tech football fans who saw their team win last year\u2019s Big 12 championship and play in the Orange Bowl. They were and are eager for Sorsby\u2019s debut as a Red Raider.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But we have to have bright lines somewhere, and consequences when they are crossed. Legalized, online gambling is poisoning professional, collegiate and amateur sports. For the good of college players, the NCAA should rethink any agreement that facilitates betting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have clear rules and enforce them, and you may save the next kid from what Sorsby faces now.<\/p>\n

Have thoughts about this? Send a letter to the editor using our letters form<\/a> or email letters@dallasnews.com<\/a>. Letters should be no more than 200 words and include the first and last name of the writer and city of residence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a U.S. soldier has been accused of using classified information to bet on a dictator\u2019s ouster, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-307695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}