Texas Tech Quarterback Brendan Sorsby Eligible to Play in 2026 After Injunction

Texas Tech star quarterback Brendan Sorsby has been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA and will be eligible to play for the Red Raiders in 2026.

Sorsby had been ruled ineligible by the NCAA earlier this year after he acknowledged gambling on sports, including on his own team while at Indiana .

But Monday's ruling by district judge Ken Curry in Lubbock County, Texas, restores Sorsby's eligibility, saying that the NCAA cannot prevent him from "practicing, playing or otherwise participating on Texas Tech's football team for the 2026 season."

The ruling also said that Sorsby "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 season."

The NCAA responded in a statement Monday, saying that Curry's ruling "undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports."

"The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court's ruling in Sorsby's case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome -- which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports," the statement said. "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."

Sorsby was diagnosed with gambling and anxiety disorders during a 35-day inpatient stay at a gambling rehabilitation center in Arizona, according to his attorneys. He is alleged to have placed thousands of bets during his college career at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech, according to legal documents.

The NCAA stated last week that Sorsby should be commended for seeking treatment and is free to continue his playing career elsewhere. Sorsby was a top target in the offseason transfer portal and considered an NFL prospect who could opt to enter the supplemental draft.

At Indiana, as a scout team and backup quarterback, Sorsby placed at least 2,900 bets totaling more than $30,000 from June 2022 through December 2023, according to the documents. His bets included 40 on games involving the Hoosiers, but none on games in which he was involved or had a legitimate chance of playing, according to the documents. The NCAA alleged that Sorsby also placed parlay bets involving Indiana basketball games that included wagers "in favor of players on the opposing team."

Student-athletes are prohibited from betting on any NCAA-sanctioned sport, college or professional, and face permanent loss of eligibility if found to have wagered on games involving their own team or another team in a different sport at their school.

The NCAA has not found evidence of attempts to manipulate his performance or that inside information was used to place any of the bets, according to the documents.

Sorsby's attorneys have asked the NCAA to treat his violations of the gambling policy as a mental health condition.

_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49000177/brendan-sorsby-granted-injunction-vs-ncaa-eligible-play-2026)._