CINCINNATI (AP) — Transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby will not play for Texas Tech this fall and will enter the NFL supplemental draft instead, ending an unprecedented legal fight over the college eligibility for a player who had acknowledged betting on college and pro sports, including some on his own team while at Indiana four years ago.
Cody Campbell, the billionaire booster who is chairman of the school regents, wrote in an open letter Monday night that Sorsby will not be part of the team.
“This decision was made with Brendan and his family and is purely an output of practical analysis of the situation,” Campbell wrote. “Brendan and Texas Tech stand on very solid and legitimate legal ground, but he faces a June 22nd deadline to be eligible to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft, and there is no practical way to resolve all the various pending legal disputes and ensure his eligibility prior to this date. This is the only viable and fair path for Brendan and his future, as well as for his teammates, and our university.”
That came exactly one week before the deadline for Sorsby to apply for the NFL supplemental draft.
It was also on the same day that the NCAA and Big 12 had filings in different courts challenging a temporary injunction that had cleared the way for Sorsby to play despite being declared ineligible after he acknowledged making thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 while in college. Those included at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the game in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.
Sorsby did not play a down for the defending Big 12 champion Red Raiders. He transferred to Texas Tech in January for a reported multimillion-dollar deal after playing the past two seasons for Cincinnati, another Big 12 school.
Campbell, while not revealing any figures, said Texas Tech will not seek the return of any payments already made to Sorsby through his NIL agreements with the university.
