Texas Judge Rules Against NCAA in Betting Case

A Texas state court ruled Monday that Brendan Sorsby—the Texas Tech University quarterback whom the NCAA blocked from playing for placing bets, including on his own team—will be eligible to play next season, The Athletic reported. 

Ken Curry, a judge for the 99th District Court in Lubbock County, Texas, issued a temporary injunction against the NCAA’s decision, ruling that if Sorsby can’t play football, “he will suffer a probable, imminent and irreparable injury” because he would, The Athletic reported, “miss out on coaching, camaraderie and training and wouldn’t be able to build necessary skills to help himself and Texas Tech’s team.”

Curry ruled that Sorsby should serve a two-game suspension, returning in time for his team’s Big 12 opener against the University of Houston on Sept. 18.

The NCAA—whose bylaws state that the penalty for a player gambling on their own team is permanent ineligibility—is appealing the decision in Texas’s Seventh Court of Appeals; all four justices that preside over that court are alums of Texas Tech University School of Law.

“The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in this 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 NCAA said in a statement. “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.”

Coaches and administrators across the Big 12 were also outraged by the decision and are holding meetings this week to discuss the ruling, according to The Athletic. And directors at the Universities of Georgia and Nebraska have already told their departments to refrain from scheduling Texas Tech in non-conference play for all sports, Front Office Sports reported.