Texas Tech’s Sorsby Announces Plans to End College Career

To the relief of sports fans around the country, Brendan Sorsby will officially be taking his talents to the NFL.

The Texas Tech quarterback has announced his intention to enter the NFL supplemental draft. As a result, the expanding fight over his NCAA eligibility after violating the league’s gambling laws will officially come to an end. The school promised to continue to support its most promising star to make the transition to pro football.

"When Brendan's lawsuit resulted in the granting of a temporary injunction, we found ourselves in a difficult situation," Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec and AD Kirby Hocutt shared in a joint statement on Monday. "With his health and wellness as our top priority, we supported him despite very different perspectives and opinions. Our position was challenged by many, but our support for him never changed.

Earlier this year, the NCAA discovered that Sorsby had placed thousands of illegal bets over his four-year college career. Some of those wagers involved teams he played for, which is a severe breach of the league’s strict rules around gambling. As a result, the NCAA stripped him of his eligibility.

All that changed on June 8 when a Texas judge granted an injunction for the quarterback, which legally restored his college eligibility. This was met with anger from coaches, fans, and school officials, prompting threats of boycotts and calls for additional action by the NCAA and conference officials. 

Before his announcement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was threatening legal action against anyone attempting to prevent Sorsby from playing. This led to angry responses from other states and Big 12 officials, but the quarterback’s decision to leave brings that growing fight to an immediate end.

The Big 12 did file a lawsuit against Texas Tech over Sorsby earlier this week.

Massive Win for the NCAA

When the Sorsby court ruling was delivered earlier this month, fears spiked about the NCAA's authority. If a court could overrule the league’s most effective punishment, many worried athletes wouldn’t fear its gambling rules.

While the US legal system failed the NCAA, the league still picked up an important win.

The quarterback giving up his fight shows the brutal pressure being applied by the public, teams, conference officials, and even state and federal lawmakers. That opposition helped support the NCAA, whose options were suddenly limited. That pressure led Sorsby to drop his fight despite being cleared to play for most of the season.

By pressuring the quarterback out of the league, the NCAA sends a clear message that all of its members remain united in supporting its strict gambling laws.