Brendan Sorsby just became the talk of the town in the college football realm after his past caught up to him in the ugliest manner possible. Just a couple of months after bagging $5.1 million, the Texas Tech Red Raiders gunslinger found himself technically banned from probably playing football ever again because of an egregious gambling issue and betting on his own team. While everything is about to look like a lifetime ban for the Red Raider, Sorsby ought to seek legal help from one of the NCAA’s biggest opponents, Jeffrey Kessler.
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On May 2, Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports hopped onto his X handle and confirmed it: “NEWS: Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby has hired noted attorney Jeffrey Kessler, Kessler confirms to @CBSSports. Sorsby is being investigated by NCAA for gambling, including allegations he bet on Indiana while on the Hoosiers’ roster.”
So, if you follow sports law, Kessler is the lawyer who basically defeated the NCAA in the Supreme Court to allow players to get paid in the House vs NCAA case.
Kessler’s a 2-0 against the NCAA. He was also the lead lawyer in the NCAA v. Alston case, where he cleanly swept them with a 9-0 shutout at the Supreme Court in 2021. He convinced every single justice that the NCAA couldn’t stop schools from giving athletes education-related perks.
NEWS: Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby has hired noted attorney Jeffrey Kessler, Kessler confirms to @CBSSports. Sorsby is being investigated by NCAA for gambling, including allegations he bet on Indiana while on the Hoosiers' roster. Kessler won the landmark House v. NCAA case.
So, who else better than Kessler to represent this gambling mess? Word is, Sorsby placed over 10,000 bets over several years, which averages out to roughly 20 wagers a day. He allegedly bet on his own team at Indiana Hoosiers in 2022. The popular consensus is that he reportedly only bet on them to win. The NCAA has a “cardinal sin” rule: if you bet on your own school, you’re usually permanently banned. He is now in a residential treatment facility to deal with what his team is calling a serious addiction.
So, the idea here is, according to Marcello, Sorsby is likely planning to argue that the NCAA’s gambling rules are an illegal restraint on his “trade” or that his addiction should be treated as a medical issue rather than a rule-breaking one. If they don’t come to a middle ground, negotiate, compromise, and settle before the fall, they are surely taking the matter to a legal case—Kessler’s bread and butter.
Again, at the same time, his former school, the Cincinnati Bearcats, is currently suing him for $1 million. They claim he broke a contract by transferring to West Texas. Sorsby’s team is counter-suing, saying the “exit fee” is illegal because it costs more than the school even paid him.
However, if Kessler can’t get the NCAA to budge, Sorsby’s college career is over. His only move left would be the NFL Supplemental Draft. This is a special extra draft that happens after the regular NFL Draft. It’s for players who suddenly become eligible after the main draft, usually because something changed, like losing college eligibility or deciding to leave school late.
In this draft, teams place bids on players by choosing a round they are willing to give up. If a team wins a player, they must give up that same round pick in the next year’s draft. For example, if a team uses a third-round bid, they lose their third-round pick the following year. That’s probably where Sorsbt might get drafted if things go south for him.
Sorbsy has until June 30 to decide.
Since there isn’t any return date, the real question is what’s next for Texas Tech if Brendan Sorsby is ruled ineligible or remains away from the team for treatment?
What’s next for Texas Tech if Sorsby fails to make it through?
Unfortunately, Texas Tech will have to turn to a relatively inexperienced quarterback room.
The team is in a bit of a bind because the transfer portal is closed. Now that new NCAA rules against “ghost transfers”, they can’t just go out and bring in a new starter right now.
Will Hammond is the guy the coaches really want. He was the primary backup last year and played well in relief. At one point, he was looking like the best backup in the Big 12 and the Power Four before tearing his ACL in October.
He missed all of spring ball, but recently started throwing again. There is cautious optimism he could be ready for Week 1 against Abilene Christian Wildcats, but if he’s not 100%, the team might have to wait until the Big 12 opener against Houston Cougars to let him loose.
If Hammond isn’t ready for the season opener, the job will then fall to Kirk Francis. He’s a transfer from Tulsa Golden Hurricane who was originally brought in to be third-string. Unlike Hammond, he’s not much of a runner. He only has seven collegiate starts under his belt. He took most of the second-team reps during the spring and is currently the most experienced healthy option on the roster.
Then there’s Lloyd Jones, a redshirt freshman and former four-star recruit. He spent last year rehabbing a knee injury from high school and has only seen garbage-time action. Their last option would be a true freshman who just got to campus, Steph Cannon. Not sure how many wins Texas Tech would grab without Sorsby, but they are not making the playoffs without him.
