Speculation has run rampant as to how the NCAA got a hold of the gambling of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Many wondered if Cincinnati, to get revenge against Sorsby, and Texas Tech, who picked up the quarterback from within the Big 12 Conference, might have had something to do with it. Well, the recent reporting suggests that it was an online sportsbook who tipped off the NCAA to Sorsby’s gambling issues.
In the NCAA’s filing, the organization wrote that it found out about Sorsby’s gambling on March 11 after receiving information from an online sportsbook that had been notified by law enforcement. The NCAA informed Texas Tech of its investigation April 14 and asked for phone and betting records and to interview Sorsby “to determine the full scope of his sports betting activity during his time as a student-athlete, including any integrity concerns.”
Cincinnati’s Knowledge
Also in the filing, Brendan Sorsby triggered a ProhiBet alert at Cincinnati in August of 2024 (For what it’s worth, the Big 12 has a ProhiBet partnership). The alert denied him access to a betting platform and he was interviewed by the school’s compliance office before resolving it in ProhiBet’s system. Sorsby spoke with the school’s compliance team about the matter and received sports wagering education, according to the documents.
The NCAA laid out its opposition to Sorsby’s request in a legal brief filed late Friday in district court in Lubbock, Texas, that revealed new details about law enforcement’s involvement in the origin of the case and the scope of the embattled quarterback’s betting. The NCAA also pushed back on Texas Tech’s claims that it had intentionally delayed the investigation and had been insensitive to Sorsby’s stint in gambling rehab.
The NCAA stated in its brief that Sorsby should be commended for seeking treatment and is free to continue his playing career elsewhere. Sorsby was a top target in the offseason transfer portal and considered an NFL prospect who could opt to enter the supplemental draft.
“But the NCAA Bylaws are clear that his college football career has come to an end,” the NCAA wrote.
Other Sorsby News This Week
On Tuesday, the NCAA put its foot down on the matter of Texas Tech‘s Brendan Sorsby and his gambling habits across his four-year playing career while at Cincinnati and Indiana. The association denied the Bearcats transfer from competing on behalf of the Red Raiders next season, and Sorsby is now seeking a temporary injunction that’d potentially see him take the field this fall.
Much of Sorsby’s argument hinges on his described sports gambling addiction, for which he underwent a 35-day residential treatment program. Following the NCAA’s decision Tuesday, Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec wrote a public letter to the Texas Tech community announcing they’d be appealing the association’s choice to bar Sorsby from the field.
“The NCAA bylaws governing Brendan’s case have not adapted to the era of widespread legalized sports betting that this generation of college athletes now has to navigate,” Schovanec said. “He is not the first college athlete to face gambling addiction, and unfortunately, he will not be the last.”
We haven’t heard the end of the Sorsby story, but clearly it’s been one of the biggest stories to take over the college football off-season.
A hearing on Sorsby’s request for an injunction is scheduled for Monday in Lubbock.
