Texas Tech Makes Hypocritical Case for Brendan Sorsby’s Eligibility

Suddenly, it’s convenient for Texas Tech to back a player’s case for a temporary injunction from a local judge to play this fall just months after the gambling issue was taboo in November?

Hmmm.

Remember, Sorsby was ruled ineligible to play in games. He was not banned from practicing. His scholarship was not taken away. He can still be with the team. He could also still get paid millions if that’s what the Red Raiders chose. Yet, Texas Tech supports his claim that being ineligible to play would cause him irreparable harm.

That’s not what Texas Tech wants, of course. They want him to throw touchdowns on Saturdays this fall. 

Gambling rules for athletes in college and professional sports are rarely up for debate. Yet, the NCAA membership, not people that work in the offices in the Indianapolis HQ, was willing to consider some legislation around betting on pro sports for all three Divisions in a world where athletes are inundated with gambling ads and apps. 

This was going to be a major concession by the membership. But it didn’t pass, so current NCAA rules stand. Here are the standards that were created by the membership: 

• Betting on your own individual performance or team is a permanent loss of eligibility, while betting on other teams at your school means losing one year of eligibility and being ineligible for a year. 

• Betting on your sport at another school means losing 50 percent of one season of eligibility. 

• Betting on professional sports or non-NCAA amateur sports breaks down like this:

• A wager $200 or warrants sports wagering rules and prevention education; $201-$500 warrants loss of 10 percent of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education; $501-$800 warrants loss of 20 percent of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education; greater than $800 — loss of 30 percent of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education; $800 or more results in loss of more eligibility, with the possibility of permanent ineligibility.

Sorsby admitted to $90,000 in gambling.  Case closed. He was denied eligibility and lost an NCAA appeal. 

So, he did what many others have done when they don’t like rules that the membership endorsed — find a school that will take you, and back you when your attorney is in front of a local judge.

Surprise, Surprise: Congress Dropped The Ball

The latest Congressional effort to fix college sports is deader than disco. It’s time the NCAA moved on.

This is the same kind of hypocrisy — yes, that word again — that Alabama displayed in the Charles Bediako case last season. Bediako signed an NBA contract. There were strict rules that prevented a player who signed a contract from competing. Yet, Alabama and Bediako’s legal team got a local judge to grant an injunction before ultimately losing his appeal. He played five games. Alabama still made the NCAA Tournament — and would have without him playing those five games — and reached the Sweet Sixteen before losing to eventual champion Michigan. 

Alabama could have just had Bediako work out with the team, pay for his education and give him NIL money without having to back him through a legal process just to play in five games. If schools want players to play after signing with NBA teams, they have the right to try to change the rules. If Texas Tech wants a player who has gambled to play, then it can rally supporters to change the rules. 

Well, in this case, the Red Raiders had their chance. 

There is so much backlash from this decision that schools in the Big 12 could decide to boycott the Red Raiders. Texas Tech is already becoming a pariah for non-conference games, with Nebraska and Georgia saying they won’t schedule the Red Raiders in any sport. The Big Ten is discussing the same thing. 

And by the way, why should Sorsby be allowed to play when in 2023 Iowa defensive lineman Noah Shannon was suspended for the season after it was discovered he bet on the Iowa women’s basketball team? 

Oh, right, that’s because Shannon didn’t find a local judge in Iowa City to grant him an injunction. There were and are rules against gambling (see above) and thus Shannon had to suffer the consequences of his actions. 

Athlete gambling is taken seriously because there has to be a public trust that the athlete is competing without a hint of impropriety. That’s true in all sports around the globe. And yet, here we are, with another case of a school backing a player who has attorneys who find a friendly judge to play and usurp rules that the school agreed to abide by as a member of the NCAA! 

The hypocrisy is clear and creating real damage to college sports. Just stop it.