The Texas Tech alum originally slated to judge Brendan Sorsby‘s case in the Red Raiders quarterback’s upcoming eligibility lawsuit is out of the picture, but there could very well be an entire lot of Tech-adjacent judges weighing the decision.
Ryan Autullo, a Texas courts reporter for Bloomberg Law, pointed out that, on appeal, Sorsby’s case will be reviewed by a table of Texas Tech law graduates. You read about all four justices at the official page of Texas’ Seventh Court of Appeals.
I’m not a law student – far from it. But Sorsby filed his injunction in the Lubbock County District Court, where Texas Tech’s campus in located, and it’s not entirely shocking that this kind of pickle would complicate the impartiality of his case. There is always the possibility the case could get moved outside of west Texas, but how much would that realistically solve?
The issue in question occurred while Sorsby played at two seperate schools, including one not even in the Big 12. He is a Texas native, though, and his status as the No. 1 transfer prospect makes this a landmark case in regards to how the NCAA may police, or even revise, its gambling polices moving forward.
Sorsby’s already come forward about his gambling addiction, and is undergoing treatment while conducting this lawsuit to achieve his final season of eligibility after Texas Tech cut a major deal to acquire the former Cincinnati quarterback. Wagering on his own team while playing at Indiana is an obvious violation against the NCAA’s policies gambling, and is grounds for immediate loss of eligibility, according to the rules on the books.
But Sorsby, who is also settling an unrelated case with Cincinnati for breaching his NIL deal with the Bearcats, is arguing that the NCAA’s hypocrisy on the subject negates his actions and the policy at-large, according to his lawsuit filed in Lubbock.
The bottom line is this: Sorsby isn’t the first college football player to wager on his own team. He’s one of the first high-profile players to get caught, and with his betting habits, folks didn’t have to look very far. The NCAA is losing power by the year, and this lawsuit could certainly be one of the last blows to an increasingly powerless organization.
