Brendan Sorsby won the latest round in his fight to suit up come fall. On Monday, a Texas court granted the request from Texas Tech’s allegedly gambling addicted bonus baby quarterback for an injunction preventing the NCAA from barring him for the 2026 season and beyond.
Sorsby transferred to the Red Raiders in January after two years at Cincinnati, a move that reportedly would net him a $6 million NIL windfall. After word broke that he was being investigated by the NCAA for betting on a lot of things—including his own team’s games and balls and strikes from Cincinnati Reds pitchers—Sorsby entered a residential rehab facility for treatment for a gambling addiction. The NCAA subsequently announced he’d been, essentially, banned from participating in college athletics.
Sorsby asked for the injunction on the grounds that gambling is a mental illness, and the NCAA can’t punish somebody for being sick. Judge Ken Curry of the 99th District Court in Lubbock seems to have mostly agreed with Sorsby’s argument, throwing out the punishment.
"This court finds that applicant has demonstrated that he will suffer a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury if this court does not issue this temporary injunction because he will be unable to participate as a member of Texas Tech University’s 2026 football team," Curry wrote, per a report by KCBD.
Curry didn’t stop there. He also handed down his own, lesser sanctions on Sorsby for his alleged gambling offenses. Instead of an outright ban, the judge imposed a two-game suspension, assuming Sorsby follows Curry’s other guidelines, which include continuing addiction treatments and keeping the NCAA updated on his care.
Odd ruling, for sure. But ever since the scandal broke, the powers that be on the South Plains have been playing to the stereotype that football is religion in the region. Shortly after the bonus baby QB was suspended, Tech president Lawrence Schovanec released a long and poorly written statement on TTU letterhead showing that the school was going to fight like hell to get him back on the field.
"Our values include Students and People First, Integrity and Resilience. Brendan’s case calls for all three," Schovanec wrote. "Brendan has shown great resilience. We're committed to doing right by him—by giving him the support he needs to recover from addiction and finish his collegiate athletic career." Early in his bloated missive, the academic had cited the "five shared values" that Tech’s "strength as an institution" relies on, but dropped "academic excellence" and "exemplary service" by memo’s end.
The NCAA released a statement following the ruling saying it "strongly disagreed" with Curry’s action. It added: “The NCAA is committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one's own sport."
An appeal is expected. If the ruling stands, Sorsby will be sidelined when the Red Raiders—coming off a 12-win season, the most in the program's history, and going into the 2025 NCAA playoffs as the four seed—open the season against also-rans Abilene Christian and Oregon State. He’ll be back in time for all Big 12-deciding late-fall tilts and any postseason games.
I’m not a lawyer, but if I’m following this right, Curry’s message to the NCAA and everybody in the sports world is that it’s all fine and legal to sanction a sick athlete. But by god don’t even try to make a kid in West Texas sit out a big football game.
Disclosure: I went to Texas Tech in the 1980s, and after not giving a rip about the place for decades, I now root real hard for all its sports teams.
