NCAA infractions expert says Brendan Sorsby faces long odds challenging permanent ban for gambling
Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is trying to do what no other college athlete has done: Force the NCAA to stand down on enforcing its sacrosanct policy that permanently bans athletes who have wagered on their own team. “It would be unprecedented,” said Jodi Balsam, a former arbitrator of NCAA infractions cases who is director of the Sports Law Clinic at Brooklyn Law School. “They have never excused betting on one’s own sport or team and it routinely has been met with the harshest of penalties.
” Texas Tech said Monday it had declared Sorsby ineligible after it finalized an agreed-upon stipulation of facts between the school, the NCAA and Sorsby. A school is required to declare an athlete ineligible before it can initiate the reinstatement process. On the same day, Sorsby filed a lawsuit in Lubbock County, Texas, alleging the NCAA was slow-walking his case and asking for an injunction allowing him to play for the Red Raiders this season after he was one of the biggest transfers of the offseason.
Balsam said the claim of stalling is likely baseless since the NCAA had not received a reinstatement request as of Monday. Sorsby has acknowledged wagering on sports, including on his own team his freshman season at Indiana in 2022. His school said he entered residential treatment for a gambling addiction three weeks ago.
History on NCAA's side Balsam said courts historically have sided with sports governing bodies when it comes to administering rules concerning gambling and integrity of the game. “I see the NCAA fighting this one. I don’t see them settling,” she said.
“I do believe this is within their core legal authority. ” Sorsby is the highest-profile college football player to face permanent suspension for gambling since Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers three years ago. Dekkers was found to have wagered on a 2021 Cyclones game in which he didn't play.
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