Court Rules Star QB Can Return After NCAA Banned Him Over Gambling Admission

Despite breaking numerous NCAA rules regarding gambling as an athlete, a Texas state court on Monday granted Texas Tech University quarterback Brendan Sorsby a temporary injunction, allowing him to play college football in the 2026-2027 season.

Retired Lubbock County Judge Ken Curry made the decision on Sorsby after he was assigned the case when the current judge recused himself. Curry’s decision comes after the NCAA declared him permanently ineligible in May. The NCAA took action on Sorsby after he admitted to wagering over $90,000 on professional and collegiate athletic events over four years following an investigation in March shortly after he transferred to Texas Tech from the University of Cincinnati. 

Judge Curry stated that Sorsby’s attorneys explained he would suffer “probable, imminent, and irreparable injury” if he could not suit up for the Red Raiders in 2026, granting him an injunction just three days after the NCAA denied Texas Tech’s appeal.

Curry’s ruling shocked many around the country. ESPN’s College Football senior writer Pete Thamel discussed the nationwide consensus of the news.

“Reaction from lawyer Tom Mars, a veteran of NCAA cases: ‘In 40 years as a lawyer, I’ve never been as shocked and surprised by a court ruling.’ That sums the reaction on the college sports landscape today,” Thamel wrote on X.

After the ruling, the NCAA defended its decision to punish Sorsby and warned about “far-reaching” ramifications from the court’s decision. 

“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 stated.

NCAA President Charlie Baker also took to X to express his disappointment in Curry’s decision, even calling for the Protect College Sports Act to be passed and signed into law sooner rather than later.

“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,” Baker wrote. “The Protect College Sports Act would empower the NCAA to enforce rules including the gambling restrictions – it’s needed now more than ever.”

The NCAA is expected to appeal the decision. However, the ruling states that the NCAA cannot prevent Sorsby from “practicing, playing or otherwise participating on Texas Tech’s football team for the 2026 season.” If appealed, the four justices in the Texas Seventh Court of Appeals, who are all Texas Tech University law graduates, would be making the decision on their alma mater’s quarterback situation.

Thanks to the ruling, what has long been a major offense in college athletics has been downgraded to a slap on the wrist, as Sorsby will only be suspended for the first two games of Texas Tech’s 2026-2027 season.