{"id":333141,"date":"2026-06-12T04:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/333141\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T04:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:01:11","slug":"texas-tech-leadership-declares-support-for-brendan-sorsby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/333141\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech leadership declares support for Brendan Sorsby"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Texas Tech leadership released a video on Thursday night addressing criticism and declaring their support for Brendan Sorsby, following statements made by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a>, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark<\/a>, and Sorsby\u2019s own legal council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The joint statement came from Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Health and Wellness Grant Stovall, Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec, Texas Tech Football Head Coach Joey McGuire, Texas Tech Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt, and Senior Associate Athletics Director Robert Giovannetti<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the text of the statement released by President Schovanec. You can find the video below:<\/p>\n

Texas Tech Community,<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, I wrote to you about Brendan Sorsby, welcoming him back to our campus. At that time, we did not know if Brendan would be granted an injunction to play. But we felt that it was in his best interest to have the support of his coaches and staff, his teammates, and access to university resources.<\/p>\n

On Monday, a judge from Fort Worth, with no affiliation with Texas Tech, found that Brendan\u2019s legal claim had merit and granted a temporary injunction protecting his right to continue his collegiate football career.<\/p>\n

I am writing today to share additional information and update you on where we stand.<\/p>\n

A few things to consider:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Texas Tech had absolutely no knowledge of Brendan\u2019s gambling activity until several months after his arrival on campus earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Texas Tech has acted with integrity at every step of this process. We have not violated a single NCAA rule, much less a federal, state, or local law.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Texas Tech did not file or fund Brendan\u2019s lawsuit against the NCAA.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Brendan suffers from a diagnosed gambling addiction, like tens of thousands of young people today.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Brendan never bet against his own team. There is no allegation – none – that he ever tried to manipulate the outcome of a game.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The vast majority of Brendan\u2019s betting occurred prior to his enrollment at Texas Tech.<\/p>\n

\u2022 When the issue came to light, we acted quickly to help Brendan seek treatment and worked cooperatively with the NCAA and the Big 12 Conference.<\/p>\n

While others may disagree, our sincere belief is that ending his college football career would be unjust, given the extenuating circumstances of his case. We understand the wide range of opinions on this matter, but we will continue to support him.<\/p>\n

I also want to be clear about what Monday\u2019s injunction does and does not mean. It does mean he will sit out the first two games per the court\u2019s order. It does not mean his return is unconditional. The comprehensive plan surrounding his return was built in consultation with his clinical treatment team and reviewed by the judge. The plan includes ongoing outpatient care, individual and group therapy, active device monitoring, betting sites blocked across all devices, a financial custodian overseeing his accounts, and periodic compliance checks.<\/p>\n

Brendan has taken accountability for his actions. He is sincere in his contrition, and he has embarked on what will be a lifelong journey of addiction recovery.<\/p>\n

This story is an example of a system that needs to change. We live in an era where a legal betting app sits on millions of young people\u2019s phones. The NCAA has previously acknowledged and must recognize that gambling addiction is a mental health condition that absolutely should be considered in situations like this.<\/p>\n

As a lifelong academic and university president, hearing Brendan\u2019s story and his desire for redemption has evolved my own views on this subject. He is a young man with real-life struggles, hopes and dreams. The way we\u2019ve governed sports betting among student-athletes calls for change and Texas Tech intends to advocate as such through every opportunity available to us. We will advocate for policy reforms that better support and promote the well-being of the modern student-athlete. Through our Center for Students in Addiction Recovery, one of the nation\u2019s largest collegiate recovery programs, we are prepared to lead this conversation.<\/p>\n

We stand behind Brendan because he is a student on our campus and a member of our community who is seeking a path to pursue his ambitions. We\u2019d make the same choice for any student. That is who we are and will always be.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Lawrence Schovanec<\/p>\n

President<\/p>\n

Texas Tech University<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Texas Tech leadership released a video on Thursday night addressing criticism and declaring their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-333141","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\/333141","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=333141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}