Texas Tech ends Brendan Sorsby eligibility fight for fall

Texas Tech says quarterback Brendan Sorsby won a temporary court injunction keeping him eligible for the 2026 season, but the school will not let him play this fall. The decision follows a months-long legal and political backlash over his gambling past, a push

For Texas Tech, the fight over Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility is over — but the fallout isn’t.

Even after a Lubbock County judge granted a temporary injunction allowing the quarterback to remain eligible for the 2026 college football season, the Texas Tech Red Raiders announced Monday night that Sorsby will not play college football this fall.

The decision detonated quickly across college sports. Other schools threatened boycotting Texas Tech, and the Big 12 filed its own lawsuit against one of its member schools and attorneys general in Kansas, Utah and Texas became involved.

Sorsby said he gambled on his own team while at Indiana in 2022 and admitted to making thousands of additional bets. With the season clock now moving on and his college future closed, he is set to enter the NFL supplemental draft, which hasn’t taken place since 2019.

Cody Campbell. Chairman of the Board of the Texas Tech University Board of Regents and a Senior Member of the President’s Blue Ribbon Council on College Sports. responded directly in a lengthy letter posted Monday. Campbell described the school’s stance as rooted in compliance and transparency and argued that Texas Tech “did absolutely nothing but act with complete integrity through this entire process.”.

In his letter. Campbell said Texas Tech “broke no rules. no laws. and crossed no ethical lines. ” and argued the university has “proud[ly]” supported Sorsby the way it does “especially in a growingly professionalized college sports world. that often treats these young people like nothing more than commodities.”.

Campbell’s account also sought to frame what Texas Tech knew, and when. He wrote that the school conducted thorough and appropriate background checks before signing Sorsby and that after Sorsby arrived on campus. he “immediately became a great leader” and showed “the highest level of character.” Campbell added that Texas Tech had “absolutely no knowledge” of any gambling history “until months after he arrived in Lubbock.”.

He said Sorsby took responsibility when first confronted and that there was “never any indication” Sorsby was anything but honest with the administration or officials. As Texas Tech investigated further. Campbell wrote that the data made clear Sorsby has a gambling addiction and that he needed “immediate help.” The school said it stood behind Sorsby. helped him find treatment. and would continue to support his recovery even though. Campbell said. Sorsby “has never taken a snap” for Texas Tech.

The letter also pushed back on a key point in the public debate: Campbell said it was not Texas Tech that filed the lawsuit against the NCAA seeking reinstatement. He wrote that the lawsuit “was brought by the student-athlete. himself. ” and that Sorsby paid “for the full legal expenses.” Campbell said a state judge granted an injunction restoring Sorsby’s eligibility and that Texas Tech would have respected the court’s decision while continuing to support treatment if the ruling had gone the other way.

Campbell said the school’s Monday decision comes with a hard deadline: Sorsby faces a June 22 deadline to be eligible to enter the NFL supplemental draft. Campbell wrote that. in Texas Tech’s view. there was “not practical way to resolve all the various pending legal disputes and ensure his eligibility prior to this date. ” making this “the only viable and fair path” for Sorsby. for teammates. and for the university.

Texas Tech also said it will not seek return of any amounts already paid to Sorsby through NIL agreements with the University.

For Campbell, the personal stakes were inseparable from his broader argument about college sports. He described years of advocacy for reform and said the system has “descended into a bottomless pit of chaos.” He said his position has not changed and that he wants reform so that the more than 500. 000 student-athletes in the country get the kind of opportunity he said helped him succeed in his own life.

In the letter. he said the current situation is “not acceptable nor sustainable at present. ” and he urged that meaningful reform can’t wait for the next legal scramble. He pointed to what he called a “promising light at the end of the tunnel”: the Protect College Sports Act of 2026. saying Texas Tech has “full support.”.

But for Sorsby and the Texas Tech team, the immediate result is blunt. Campbell wrote that Texas Tech will not be able to keep Sorsby on the roster this fall and that the quarterback would be “stripped of the opportunity” to develop further in college football’s structure.

Campbell characterized the outcome as “gut-wrenching” and said Texas Tech believes Sorsby “has also been part of a much larger broken and predatory system. ” adding that the school believes “all people deserve a second chance.” Still. he said there is “no viable path” to providing redemption at the college level under the circumstances.

A final paragraph in the letter returned to the human cost. Campbell wrote that the experience has been “unbelievably painful” for everyone involved and said he is praying Sorsby can stay on his path to recovery as he pursues his dreams at the next level.

The last lines carried Texas Tech’s signature energy — but the central message was unmistakable: a temporary injunction may have secured eligibility for 2026, yet the fall season is already slipping away for Sorsby, and the school says it has run out of legal and timing options to change that.

Brendan Sorsby Texas Tech Cody Campbell NCAA Lubbock County injunction gambling addiction NIL agreements Big 12 lawsuit NFL supplemental draft Protect College Sports Act of 2026 college sports reform sports betting