Texas Tech quarterback wins injunction, may play despite betting ban

Brendan Sorsby won a preliminary injunction Monday that could keep Texas Tech’s quarterback on the field this fall, after a judge in Lubbock County blocked the NCAA from enforcing an ineligibility ruling tied to sports betting. The decision gives Sorsby immediate relief in a case that could shape how college athletes are disciplined for gambling violations in the NIL and sports-betting era.

Judge Ken Curry’s order came after a hearing last week in the 99th District Court and found Sorsby’s attorneys had shown he would suffer a “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if he were kept off the field. The NCAA said it strongly disagreed with the ruling and remained deeply concerned about the integrity of sports. The association can appeal to a higher Texas court, though there was no immediate word on whether it would do so.

The dispute centers on Sorsby’s gambling history. ESPN reported that he acknowledged placing roughly $90,000 in impermissible bets over four years while he was at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech, including 40 wagers involving Indiana football in 2022, when he was a freshman. Some of those bets were placed on his own team while he was at Indiana, the type of conduct the NCAA says can justify permanent ineligibility.

That stance comes from the NCAA’s June 2023 reinstatement guidelines, which say student-athletes who wager on their own games, or whose actions influence their own games, can face permanent loss of eligibility. In other gambling cases, the NCAA uses a tiered penalty system based on the amount wagered. Sorsby’s case is therefore a direct test of whether a state judge will allow an exception when the underlying conduct falls into the most serious category under NCAA rules.

Texas Tech’s roster lists Sorsby as a transfer who arrived after two seasons at Indiana from 2022-23 and two at Cincinnati from 2024-25, and says he is set to play his final season of eligibility as a Red Raider. ESPN reported he was the No. 1 player in the transfer portal and projected to be among the top quarterbacks in the country, with sources at the time believing he could rank near the top of the NIL market.

The ruling matters immediately for Texas Tech’s schedule. The Red Raiders open the 2026 season Sept. 5 against Abilene Christian, travel to Oregon State on Sept. 12, and host Houston in their Big 12 opener on Sept. 18. Texas Tech Athletics said the first two games are set for 6 p.m. CT or later, with Abilene Christian airing on FS1 and Oregon State on CBS.

Sorsby said in a statement that he was grateful for the support and for the chance to rejoin his teammates, and said the experience carries a responsibility to focus on personal growth and use it to help others. Texas Tech’s spring game already offered a glimpse of his role, when the school’s April 17 recap said he threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Micah Hudson. For now, the legal fight has made Sorsby more than a quarterback competition story: it has become a potential marker for how far NCAA discipline can reach when betting, eligibility and athlete rehabilitation collide.