Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who entered residential remedy for a gambling dependancy three weeks in the past, filed a lawsuit Monday looking for to have the NCAA restore his eligibility.
Sorsby had landed a multimillion-dollar deal to return to his house state for his closing faculty season, however his eligibility was jeopardized when he acknowledged wagering on sports activities.
His lawsuit, filed in Lubbock County, Texas, by native lawyer Dustin Burrows, asks for an injunction that may enable him to apply and play for the Red Raiders. The submitting mentioned authorized motion was taken due to the “NCAA’s wholesale abandonment of its obligations and duties to promote the well-being” of Sorsby.
His playing dependancy, the lawsuit mentioned, is a “clinically diagnosed” dysfunction acknowledged by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
“The NCAA has weaponized his condition to shore up a facade of competitive integrity, while simultaneously profiting from the very gambling ecosystem it polices,” the lawsuit mentioned, including that Sorsby had taken accountability for violating NCAA guidelines and supplied to settle for “reasonable discipline” however not a full lack of eligibility.
Texas Tech introduced Monday that after finalizing an agreed-upon stipulation of info between the varsity, NCAA and Sorsby, the varsity has declared Sorsby ineligible.
“Texas Tech intends to quickly initiate the reinstatement process,” the varsity mentioned in an announcement. “Texas Tech’s primary focus remains supporting Sorsby’s health and well-being.”
The NCAA mentioned it has not acquired a reinstatement request for the Sorsby case as of late Monday afternoon.
“The NCAA generally doesn’t comment on pending reinstatement requests, but the Association’s sports betting rules are clear, as are the reinstatement conditions,” the NCAA mentioned in an announcement. “When it comes to betting on one’s own team, these rules must be enforced in every case for the simple reason that the integrity of the game is at risk. Every sports league has these protections in place, and the NCAA will continue to apply them equally because every student-athlete competing deserves to know they’re playing a fair game.”
Sorsby began his faculty profession at Indiana in 2022 earlier than a switch to Cincinnati to play the previous two seasons. ESPN, citing unidentified sources, beforehand reported Sorsby made hundreds of on-line bets on a wide range of sports activities through a playing app.
NCAA guidelines had been eased in 2023 to acknowledge the proliferation of legalized playing however nonetheless name for a everlasting ban for athletes who guess on their very own video games.
ESPN reported Sorsby guess on Indiana soccer video games in 2022 and solely to win. He didn’t place a wager on the one sport through which he appeared that season as a freshman.
Sorsby’s lawsuit known as the NCAA’s place on playing “hypocritical” as a result of it has a partnership with Genius Sports to distribute real-time knowledge feeds to sportsbooks, publicly touted playing as a “major opportunity” and presided over an enterprise through which $3.3 billion was wagered on its basketball tournaments in 2026.
Sorsby’s authorized group is headed by Jeffrey Kessler, the lead lawyer for gamers within the groundbreaking House settlement that accelerated the professionalization of school sports activities.