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Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire addressed Brendan Sorsby’s status on a trip to Houston.<\/p>\n
LM Otero\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
From a lengthy statement to appearances on a national podcast and a luncheon at the Houston Touchdown Club, Texas Tech officials went on the offensive Wednesday in support of quarterback Brendan Sorsby.<\/a><\/p>\n In his first public appearance since Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction<\/a> against the NCAA, Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire defended plans to play Sorsby next season but called it \u201ca stretch\u201d that the fifth-year quarterback would be ready for a September return amid his recovery from gambling addiction and any possible legal hurdles to come.<\/p>\n Athletic director Kirby Hocutt said the school was not trying to \u201cengineer his eligibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Billionaire megadonor Cody Campbell<\/a> was much more defiant, saying the backlash was simply jealousy.<\/p>\n \u201cBrendan Sorsby is recovering from an addiction,\u201d McGuire said at the Omni Galleria. \u201cI\u2019ve sat down with this young man multiple times, and the things that he is going through and what he\u2019s been through, is serious. I have a number of people in my family that were addicted to different stuff, and so I\u2019ve seen what addiction does to people. And so for us even saying to the point\u00a0\u2014 before we get to the legal\u00a0\u2014 that he can be ready in Week 3 against Houston is still a stretch, because guess what, he\u2019s still recovering.\u201d<\/p>\n McGuire acknowledged the \u201crage\u201d that has come from the situation, which many believe should make Sorsby ineligible to play.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cFor some reason, as a society, we\u2019ve been OK with other things that happen and allowing players to play, and this has been the one thing that has united people, that that they were against,\u201d McGuire said. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy because it\u2019s not murder, it\u2019s not beating somebody\u00a0\u2014 so there\u2019s a lot of things that we\u2019re working through. None of this is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA that would allow him to play this season, despite his admission that he bet on college sports while a player at Indiana and Cincinnati.<\/p>\n During an appearance on the Don\u2019t @ Me With Dan Dakich podcast, Campbell said the firestorm\u00a0\u2014 which includes schools and conferences threatening to boycott Tech on the schedule\u00a0\u2014 was \u201cthe college football world doesn\u2019t think that Texas Tech should be as good as we are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been a disruptor, just like Indiana has, so we\u2019ve been a target,\u201d Campbell added. \u201cThe volume has gone up and a lot has been directed at me, Coach McGuire, and our university, but that\u2019s not fair.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIf this had happened at LSU, people would say, \u2018Ah, it\u2019s LSU. They\u2019re always going to do what they do.\u2019 But it happened at Texas Tech, and people don\u2019t want to compete with us. Of course ADs in the Big 12 are saying crazy things that they don\u2019t want to play us. They don\u2019t want to play us because they know he\u2019s good and they don\u2019t want us to be as competitive. They want to have a better chance at winning the conference. So they\u2019re inherently conflicted in their opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n