{"id":327860,"date":"2026-06-08T18:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/327860\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T18:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:11:13","slug":"brendan-sorsby-gets-injunction-vs-ncaa-and-could-play-for-texas-tech-after-gambling-ineligibility-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/327860\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Sorsby gets injunction vs. NCAA and could play for Texas Tech after gambling ineligibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUBBOCK, Texas \u2013 Brendan Sorsby has been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA<\/a> that could clear the way for him to play for Texas Tech this fall, even after the transfer quarterback was declared ineligible for wagering on college sports. Some of the bets were made on his own team while at Indiana.<\/p>\n

The ruling Monday by Judge Ken Curry immediately prevents the NCAA from being able to block Sorsby’s eligibility for what will be his final college season. Sorsby will still miss the Red Raiders’ first two games, which was a penalty that had been proposed by his attorneys.<\/p>\n

Curry’s ruling came a week after a two-hour hearing in the 99th District Court in Lubbock County, where Texas Tech is located.<\/p>\n

The NCAA can appeal to a higher court in Texas, though there was no immediate word on if or when that would happen, or the possible timeline for a different ruling. Texas Tech is nearly three months from its season opener Sept. 5 at home against Abilene Christian.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the NCAA said it strongly disagrees<\/a> with the court’s ruling and \u201cis deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome \u2014 which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge’s ruling<\/p>\n

Curry wrote in his ruling that Sorsby’s attorneys would suffer \u201ca probable, imminent and irreparable injury\u201d if the NCAA was able to keep the quarterback from practicing or playing for the Red Raiders during any further legal proceedings.<\/p>\n

The injunction comes with conditions that Sorsby must continue to take part in individual clinical counseling for his gambling and to participate in peer support through Gamblers Anonymous or a similar group. He also has to continue treatment to address \u201cthe underlying anxiety that served as the primary driver of (his) gambling behavior,” as was noted in his legal team’s filings with the court when presenting its case.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said Monday that a comprehensive support structure, including clinical care, monitoring and compliance checks, will remain fully in place for Sorsby during his time at the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we have said before, we do not believe that the circumstances of Brendan\u2019s case warranted permanent ineligibility,” Hocutt said. \u201cAs he returns to our football program, we remain committed to supporting Brendan\u2019s recovery and ensuring his compliance with the court\u2019s order.\u201d<\/p>\n

A significant setback against the NCAA<\/p>\n

NCAA attorney Taylor Askew had said during the hearing that allowing Sorsby to play another college season would provide \u201creputable harm\u201d to the governing body.<\/p>\n

“Saying the NCAA is now the first league in America that allows you, without punishment, to bet on its own contests, that\u2019s a reputable harm to the NCAA,\u201d Askew told the court. \u201cThis would be the first league in America that does that. … We should not say for the first time serial gambling is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Court records show that Sorsby has acknowledged making thousands of impermissible bets<\/a> totaling at least $90,000 during his time at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech. That included 40 bets on Indiana while a freshman in 2022, though none on any of the games he played in with the Hoosiers.<\/p>\n

While some guidelines for penalties related to gambling have changed in recent years, NCAA rules still call for a permanent loss of eligibility for any player who wagered on his own team.<\/p>\n

Sorsby spent two seasons at Indiana before the past two at Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

The Texas native transferred in January to Texas Tech for a reported multimillion-dollar deal<\/a>. The Red Raiders brought him in to be the starting quarterback when trying to defend their first Big 12 Conference title and make the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n

What led to the NCAA investigation<\/p>\n

Court filings revealed that on March 11 the NCAA received a tip about Sorsby\u2019s gambling activity from an online gambling book, which had been informed by law enforcement. Texas Tech was notified April 14 that an investigation<\/a> was underway by the NCAA.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney who negotiated the House settlement against the NCAA<\/a> and now represents Sorsby, told the court that the 22-year-old quarterback has a diagnosed addiction and anxiety-driven compulsion.<\/p>\n

Sorsby recently completed a monthlong stay in a residential treatment program in Arizona that he entered after the start of the NCAA\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n

Kessler said, according to a clinician who treated Sorsby, that not allowing the quarterback to play would hurt his mental health and impede the progress of his recovery.<\/p>\n

The NCAA in its statement Monday said it is “committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one\u2019s own sport.\u201d <\/p>\n

The lawsuit and NCAA appeals<\/p>\n

The injunction Monday came in Sorsby\u2019s lawsuit filed May 18 against the NCAA seeking the restoration of his eligibility. That case was initially assigned to District Judge Phillip Hays, a Lubbock native and Texas Tech graduate who later recused himself. Curry is a retired judge from Tarrant County.<\/p>\n

Since the filing of that lawsuit, the NCAA has twice denied Texas Tech\u2019s petition<\/a> to restore the quarterback\u2019s eligibility.<\/p>\n

When the school on May 26 revealed the first denial and its intent to appeal, university president Lawrence Schovanec wrote in a letter to the Texas Tech community<\/a> that the school felt \u201cthe NCAA\u2019s ruling should be reversed or modified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas Tech ruled Sorsby ineligible May 18, the same day he filed his lawsuit. Tech had to do that to be able to pursue a request for his reinstatement<\/a> that it submitted to the NCAA the following day. That was first denied<\/a> May 22, and the school’s appeal was rejected last week.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas \u2013 Brendan Sorsby has been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA that could clear the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[14694,114110,168,170,169,154],"class_list":["post-327860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-brendan-sorsby","tag-ken-curry","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327860","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=327860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}