NCAA Declares Brendan Sorsby's College Career Should Be Finished

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is doing everything in his legal power to ensure he plays for the Red Raiders this coming season, despite admitting to having a gambling addiction and betting on college football. The NCAA believes that Sorsby's career should have ended upon that admission.

In the latest series of publicly-released court filings in the case between Sorsby and the NCAA, the NCAA argued that Sorsby's career should have ended as soon as they uncovered that he bet on his own team's games. The organization said that while they respect Sorsby's determination to seek treatment, he cannot be allowed to continue competing as it risks allowing every athlete to rush to court whenever they're caught red-handed.

"It would effectively sanction sports gambling by the most vulnerable student-athletes -- those suffering from a gambling addiction could continue to bet, knowing they could follow Plaintiff's lead and rush to court if caught," NCAA attorneys wrote, via ESPN. "It would create unfair outcomes for the many student-athletes who have resisted the temptation to gamble, or who have gambled and been punished under the same rules Plaintiff now seeks to evade... And it would undermine the integrity of college athletics by rewarding conduct that is universally prohibited in American sports."

Sorsby's Lawyers Fight Back

Attorneys for Sorsby have argued that the quarterback's gambling addiction is a mental disorder and should be treated like one, rather than as a violation of any NCAA rules.

"Brendan has a mental health condition that predisposed him to compulsively use predatory and addictive online gambling apps," attorney Scott Tompsett wrote in a letter to the NCAA.

"[T]he high volume of Brendan's gambling was a direct result of his mental health disorder: an anxiety condition that manifested in compulsive gambling."

It certainly is a dangerous road that Sorsby is looking to walk all in the interest of getting an extra year of college football.

Should the injunction to override the NCAA's eligibility denial be accepted, it would not only open the door to allowing athletes to bet on their football games, but potentially all athletes in all sports to do the same.

Past a certain point, maybe Sorsby would be better served just letting this one go.

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This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 3:33 PM.