Brendan Sorsby’s career should likely be over, according to rules put in place, after the gambling revelations detailed this week in a lawsuit filed against the NCAA by his own attorneys.
At a time when over nearly every restriction tied to earning opportunities, this case feels far more straightforward. But because the lawsuit was filed in Lubbock, Texas, Sorsbys legal team is clearly hoping a local judge grants an injunction that allows the Texas Tech quarterback back onto the field for the 2026 season.
Yes, that’s what this case has come down to, which makes this situation so troubling on multiple fronts. At its core, it’s clear that this young man is battling a disease, while his lawyers battle the NCAA.
Ill criticize the NCAA when it deserves it. The organization has repeatedly lost credibility in its attempts to regulate college athletics, especially in the NIL era. But this case is different. Schools and the NCAA have spent years warning athletes about the dangers and consequences tied to sports gambling.
For their part, programs like Indiana and Cincinnati â where Sorsby previously played â provide athletes with presentations, educational resources and guest speakers focused on . At some point, personal responsibility has to matter.
Schools cannot monitor athletes every second of the day, at least not in person. This is why third-party integrity companies are hired by conferences and schools to keep track of athletes’ potential betting.
And while gambling companies and integrity-monitoring firms can flag suspicious activity, there are countless ways around safeguards â offshore sportsbooks, third-party accounts or unregulated betting platforms.
In reality, there’s only so much the “betting-integrity” companies can do if an athlete is using an offshore account, or an unregulated betting company that makes it hard for regulators to keep tabs on through their integrated system.
But, in this case, the evidence is right there in the lawsuit filed by Brendan Sorsby against the NCAA.
“During his first football season, while on Indianas ‘scout team,’ Mr. Sorsby placed small betsâtypically between $5 and $50âon the Indiana football team to win or for teammates to exceed expectations,” the complaint reads. “He was not traveling with the team, and not privy to game plans; betting was his way of feeling connected to a team he could only watch from the sidelines.
“For clarity, he never bet on a game he played in or had a reasonable chance of playing in (he wasnt playing in games at the time), and he never made any bets in a manner that could impact the outcome of any game or undermine the integrity of any game.”
After placing thousands of bets on a plethora of events that included Romanian soccer, tennis, a hot dog eating contest and obviously football, the was finally made aware of his transgressions in April, years after he placed his first bets while in high school.
Why would Sorsby feel the need to bet on a team he was playing for?
According to the lawsuit, Sorsby wanted to feel “connected” and have a real “stake” in games he wasnt involved in at Indiana, having only participated in one game that season in which he redshirted.
That’s it, right there. That’s essentially one of the main reasons we’re at this point today. As bad as I feel for someone who is battling an addiction of this magnitude, the rules were broken, even if they came to light years later. And sometimes, it takes being brought to the table with your problem to truly understand you need help battling this issue that has led to such poor decisions being made.
Theres also a larger human element here that shouldnt be ignored.
Addiction is real. It destroys lives, families, and careers. So, we should all show some
