NCAA Says Brendan Sorsby Wagered $90,000 During College Career, Including on Own Team

In a court filing obtained by Sports Illustrated on Friday ahead of a hearing in Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA, the association asserted that the Texas Tech quarterback has placed impermissible sports wagers throughout his college career, including after transferring to Tech in January.

The NCAA filing, which was made in Lubbock County District Court in advance of a temporary injunction hearing on Monday, says Sorsby has placed about $90,000 in impermissible wagers across his time at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech. Although sports betting is illegal in the state of Texas, Sorsby kept betting through proxies outside the state.

“Plaintiff sent money—approximately $5,000 through Venmo or Zelle—to individuals who placed bets on his behalf using prediction applications such as Underdog, PrizePicks, and Chalkboard,” the filing says. That came after signing a form on Jan. 13 at Tech confirming that he understood the NCAA wagering rules.

The NCAA has ruled Sorsby ineligible for the 2026 season. He is suing to regain at least partial eligibility, offering to accept a two-game suspension. NCAA rules are stacked against Sorsby, with the filing noting “a clear, bright-line rule prohibiting student-athletes from any form of wagering on sports in which the NCAA sponsors a championship event.”

The filing also clears up one area of speculation about the source of the original information on Sorsby’s wagering: The NCAA says it was tipped off by a sportsbook after it had been informed by law enforcement. Speculation about the tipster had centered on the quarterback’s two previous schools.

The Friday night filing also noted that, as SI reported earlier this month, Texas Tech voted last fall to rescind NCAA legislation that would have allowed more permissible wagering for athletes. In a statement Monday, Tech presidentLawrence Schovanec asserted that “NCAA bylaws governing Brendan’s case have not adapted to the era of widespread legalized sports betting that this generation of college athletes now has to navigate,” yet Schovanec and Tech voted against more permissive legislation in November.

By his own admission, Sorsby gambled on his own team’s games during his freshman year at Indiana—an NCAA violation that has uniformly resulted in a permanent loss of eligibility. The filing says Sorsby placed at least 40 bets on Indiana football over a span of just eight games.

“Between September 2 and October 22, 2022, he made at least 40 wagers on the Indiana football team and the performance of individual team members, totaling at least $850,” the filing says. “… He also placed at least 40 wagers totaling more than $1,400 on Indiana men’s basketball and approximately 300 bets totaling at least $6,500 on college football games unrelated to Indiana.”

After two seasons with the Hoosiers, Sorsby transferred to Cincinnati. Although he says he stopped wagering on his own team, his impermissible sports betting continued.

“His wagering only intensified after that transfer,” the NCAA filing says. “From January 7, 2024, through September 30, 2024, he placed at least 165 bets—approximately 500 counting parlay legs—totaling at least $38,000. He also began relying more heavily on other individuals to place wagers. Between December 25, 2023, and June 23, 2025, he provided more than $60,000 to a friend to deposit in a FanDuel account registered to his brother-in-law …”

After two years with the Bearcats, Sorsby was one of the highest-priced transfers in the college football market this offseason, breaking a contract with Cincinnati to land a bigger payday with the free-spending Red Raiders. In late April, Texas Tech announced that Sorsby was entering a treatment facility for gambling addiction. Shortly thereafter, news broke that he was under NCAA investigation.

With his final season of eligibility in jeopardy, Sorsby hired veteran NCAA legal nemeses Jeffrey Kessler and Scott Tompsett to seek a temporary injunction that would allow him to play in 2026.

If the local court doesn’t rule in Sorsby’s favor, his likely next step would be entering the NFL supplemental draft. As a highly regarded pro prospect, he would probably be selected in such a draft in July and would be on an NFL roster for preseason training camp.

“I’m proud of Brendan for getting help with his gambling addiction,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said Thursday at Big 12 spring meetings. “We’ll continue to support Brendan. I’ve talked to him multiple times since he’s left the [rehab] facility. Gambling right now is something that we’ve seen a huge uptick in college students. I don’t think college athletes, you can separate them—you’re going to see an uptick in that.

“My job at my core has always been to develop and support young men on and off the field. We’re not going to change that. We’re here to support Brendan. I do believe he made a mistake. Whenever that happens, I do believe there should be consequences. But my opinion is that he shouldn’t be penalized for the rest of this year or his career.

“When you look at what’s been put out, he’s been really honest and transparent that he’s got a serious problem. … I think Brendan’s come out and said that he believes there should be a penalty also and he’s ready to serve that penalty. We just don’t believe that it should be for the full year.”

For Texas Tech, a promising season would be thrown into doubt without Sorsby. Backup quarterback Will Hammond, who appeared in 12 games over the previous two seasons, is working his way back from an ACL tear last October. With the transfer portal closed until after the season, other options are limited.

Staff writer Bryan Fischer contributed to this report.

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