The NCAA has faced a setback in another eligibility case after a court provided temporary relief to a quarterback the governing body had barred from the 2026 season. Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby will now be available to play for Joey McGuire’s team.

As per On3, Sorsby has obtained a preliminary injunction from a Lubbock court in the NCAA’s earlier decision to deem him ineligible over his betting-related offenses. The first hearing in the case was held on June 1, when Sorsby’s lawyers asked for an immediate verdict.

McGuire understood the severity of the situation and even prompted a punishment for their QB to the NCAA, which was again rejected by them. A penalty for a few games rather than an entire year getting wasted for the youngster was his perspective. Even after getting eligibility to play, McGuire is staying true to his words and is imposing a penalty on their behalf. Along with the penalty, Sorsby must continue individual counseling and attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

“Brendan Sorsby cannot play in Texas Tech’s first two games, which was the penalty his legal team suggested to the NCAA. Tech opens with Abilene Christian and then travels to Oregon State.”

The Texas Tech quarterback had to wait a long time after the NCAA rejected his plea for eligibility on the grounds of gambling on his own team, Indiana, and Cincinnati. According to the governing body, a student-athlete may be subject to permanent loss of eligibility in such a situation. The NCAA investigation came to the conclusion that Sorsby placed over 100 bets, 40 of which were on his team, Indiana. He allegedly used to ask his family to place bets on his behalf on the matches he played in.

Sorsby sought treatment for his addiction and even completed a 35-day residential rehabilitation program, which became the main prong for the Red Raiders QB to attain eligibility. Sorsby’s final resort was to turn to the court to play in this year’s season. Jeffrey Kessler led the trial as Sorsby’s legal counsel and fought hard to protect the quarterback’s future from being derailed by his mental health issues.

“This case, I think it has been badly misunderstood by a lot of people,” Sorsby’s attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, said. “What this case is about is when you have no threat to competitive integrity, but you have a mental illness of gambling addiction, which is plaguing student-athletes across the country. The NCAA said in its policies that it would consider supporting the athletes, but they want to punish them. That’s wrong. We think it’s illegal.”

While the injunction has been granted to him, his future in the NFL would take a lot of convincing from Sorsby and a performance that is hard to say no to. It would be hopeful that Sorsby does not end up like Diego Pavia.

Brendan Sorsby’s future in the NFL

Even before getting his eligibility granted, Sorsby got his first rejection from Todd Monken, the new Browns head coach. Given the uncertainty of Monken’s QB room, it was a possibility for him to draft a QB, but he blatantly rejected him because of the bad publicity he comes with.

“I don’t think we’re in a position to want to go down that road,” Monken told the media on June 1. “That’s my opinion. I like the quarterback that we have. I think that’s a slippery slope to go down, irrespective of talent, in terms of the situation he’s put himself in. We all know that he put himself in that situation, and we’ve seen other sports with players who have been banned for life from playing professional sports.”

“From my end of it, kind of tough angle to go down that road and think that’s going to be your franchise quarterback if he’s ever eligible to play in the NFL,” Monken added.

Before the big gambling scandal exploded for QB Sorsby, he was a frontrunner for the NFL scouts. A strong showing in the 2026 NFL Draft could have earned him a spot at the next level.