After court win, Brendan Sorsby skips final college season

Brendan Sorsby announced he will not play his final college season and instead enter the NFL supplemental draft, a week after a Texas judge issued an injunction that would have allowed him to play this fall while serving a two-game suspension.

Judge Ken Curry’s injunction temporarily reversed the NCAA’s earlier ruling that had declared Sorsby permanently ineligible. Texas Tech had asked the NCAA to reinstate Sorsby and the association denied the request, prompting Sorsby to sue to regain eligibility.

NCAA investigators concluded Sorsby placed dozens of bets on his own team while he was at Indiana and placed about $9,000 in wagers on other college games during his time at Indiana and Cincinnati. The NCAA had cited those findings when it ruled him permanently ineligible before the state-court injunction.

Several athletic directors announced their schools would not schedule Texas Tech teams in any sport while Sorsby was eligible to play, and multiple Big 12 member institutions raised concerns about on-field integrity if he returned. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned he might take legal action against the conference if it punished Texas Tech for following the judge’s order.

The Big 12 filed a federal lawsuit naming Paxton, Texas Tech officials and the university. In its complaint, the conference wrote that it and its member institutions “have no interest in being required to endorse or even appearing to endorse unethical and indeed unlawful conduct that strikes at the heart of athletic integrity.”

NCAA President Charlie Baker posted on X that federal legislation is needed to give the association consistent authority over gambling rules. Baker wrote that the Protect College Sports Act would empower the NCAA to enforce rules, including gambling restrictions, and that Congress should act to provide that authority.

The situation followed a recent precedent in the Big 12 when Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers received a permanent ban after he was found to have bet on his own team as a redshirt freshman.

By entering the supplemental draft, Sorsby shifts the matter from college eligibility to professional evaluation. NFL teams will decide whether to select a quarterback who acknowledged wagering on his own team while in college. Meanwhile, the legal and regulatory dispute involving the Big 12, Texas officials and the NCAA continues.