Star Texas Tech University quarterback Brendan Sorsby can participate in the upcoming season after a Texas state court judge granted his request to reinstate his eligibility Monday, rescinded over revelations that he placed thousands of impermissible sports bets totaling at least $90,000.<\/p>\n
Judge Ken Curry\u2019s decision comes after the NCAA declared Sorsby ineligible because he violated its rules against student-athletes wagering on sports.<\/p>\n
Curry, who heard the case in Lubbock County, ordered Sorsby to sit out the Red Raiders\u2019 first two games against Abilene Christian University and Oregon State as a condition of the temporary injunction.<\/p>\n
But a season long suspension goes too far, Curry said, because it would keep Sorsby from Texas Tech\u2019s \u201celite coaching, training resources, camaraderie, and regimen that only being a member of a Division I college football team can provide, the order<\/a> said. <\/p>\n Sorsby demonstrated he\u2019s likely to prevail in his claims for breach of contract, declaratory judgment, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of fiduciary duty, Curry said.<\/p>\n Curry, a retired judge from Fort Worth, was assigned to the case<\/a> after the original judge, Phillip Hays, recused last month following questions about his partiality as a Texas Tech graduate.<\/p>\n The decision follows a June 1 hearing where Sorsby\u2019s lawyers argued a suspension is overly punitive because he has an addiction to gambling for which he recently completed inpatient treatment. The NCAA, they argued, is to prioritize the welfare of student athletes based on in its own stated principles. Sidelining Sorsby for his entire senior season would harm him irreparably, they said.<\/p>\n Wagering Trail<\/p>\n The NCAA argued in favor of the suspension as a clear violation of a black-and-white ban on gambling. Sorsby, the NCAA argued, faces harm only in that the suspension ends his college career. The NFL remains open to him through its supplemental draft on June 22, the NCAA said.<\/p>\n Sorsby, one of the top passers in college football, arrived to Texas Tech early this year as arguably the biggest transfer in college football. Following stops at University of Cincinnati and Indiana University, the Texas high school graduate was thought to be the missing piece on a Tech offense that scored no points in a playoff loss to Oregon last season.<\/p>\n It soon came out that Sorsby had bet on sports while enrolled at all three schools. NCAA rules prohibit athletes and coaches and staff from wagering on any professional or college sports. <\/p>\n Among the bets were 40 Sorsby placed on Indiana\u2019s football team while he was enrolled at the school, he acknowledged in a May 29 filing<\/a> in the suit. Sorsby often sent money to a friend or family member to place bets on his behalf, he said.<\/p>\n Sorsby is represented by Liggett Law Group PC and Winston & Strawn LLP.<\/p>\n The NCAA is represented by Holland & Knight LLP and Haynes Boone.<\/p>\n