Judge Grants Brendan Sorsby Injunction, Restoring Eligibility for 2026 Season

Despite being ruled ineligible to play college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders this season for a sports gambling violation, a temporary injunction against the NCAA issued by a Texas judge has paved the way for quarterback Brendan Sorsby to be eligible to play. 

The temporary injunction came down on Monday, June 8, and it prevents the NCAA from punishing the quarterback. 

The judge, Ken Curry, ruled that Sorby's attorneys, which are led by Jeffrey Kessler, demonstrated that Sorsby would suffer a "probable, imminent and irreparable injury" if unable to play.

Sorsby will miss the first two games of the season, however. This was a penalty Kessler and his other attorneys proposed. 

The ineligibility ruling came after it was revealed that Sorsby wagered about $90,000 over multiple seasons, including on Indiana football games. Sorsby began his college career with Indiana. 

"I'm very grateful for the endless support I have received throughout this entire process," Sorsby said in a statement Monday. "I am also grateful for the chance to rejoin my teammates. This opportunity comes with the responsibility to remain focused on my personal growth, the ability to learn from this experience, and to be able to use my situation to help others going forward."

NCAA Continues to Oppose Sorsby's Reinstatement

Last Monday, the NCAA filed an appeal in Lubbock County, Texas. This past Friday, the NCAA denied Texas Tech's appeal for reinstatement. 

"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 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."

In response to this injunction, NCAA president Charlie Baker took to X.

"There is no better example of why targeted intervention from Congress is necessary. When you have schools and deep-pocketed supporters willing to look the other way on the glaring integrity threat of betting on your own team - and judges whose rulings effectively strip away our ability to stop them - only Congress can equip the @NCAA to apply this common sense rule to everyone fairly and consistently. The Protect College Sports Act would empower the NCAA to enforce rules, including the gambling restrictions - it's needed now more than ever."

Sorsby's Legal Team Framed the Case as a Mental Health Issue

In missing the first two games, Sorsby will miss games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State. 

"It is a just result," Jeffrey Kessler, Sorsby's lead attorney, told ESPN's Pete Thamel, who reported this injunction. "Brendan gets to devote himself to his team and the education of athletes on the dangers of gambling addiction. He will continue his treatment, miss two games, and there is no injury to the competitive integrity of the NCAA. It is what we proposed and what the NCAA should have accepted had it been true to its promises to prioritize the welfare of athletes."

Kessler's main argument was that this case was a mental health issue that the NCAA was supposed to help, not punish. 

In April, Sorsby checked himself into a 35-day in-patient rehab center in Goodyear, Arizona, where he was diagnosed with gambling and anxiety disorders. 

Sorsby is widely considered a first-round-caliber prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft.