Brendan Sorsby betting scandal: Number of Indiana bets, total wager revealed in documents

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby reportedly placed at least 40 bets involving Indiana football games and wagered as much as $90,000 over the past four years, according to ESPN’s David Payne Purdum. Sorsby also reportedly used multiple sportsbook accounts registered to a family member and other friends, and continued to gamble even after transferring to Lubbock from Cincinnati in December, according to court documents obtained by ESPN.

The four-page stipulation of facts, filed by Sorsby’s legal team ahead of Monday’s temporary injunction hearing in Lubbock County District Court, also reveal other new details regarding the lengths the Texas Tech QB went to feed his self-admitted gambling addiction. It confirms Sorsby placed thousands of bets totaling “at least $90,000 in impermissible wagers” using multiple accounts with FanDuel, Hard Rock Bet, PrizePicks and Underdog between 2022-25, per ESPN.

“It became a habit for me to bet,” Sorsby wrote in a statement to the NCAA, according to ESPN. “My betting became a compulsion which made it virtually impossible to resist the constant notifications I received from betting apps. I lost complete control of my addiction. I now realize the apps controlled me and I did not control them.”

In the stipulation of facts, Sorsby admits to making “at least 2,900 bets” totaling more than $30,000 while enrolled at Indiana between June 2022-Dec. 2023, including at least 40 wagers on Hoosiers football games and/or individual teammates ranging from $1-114 and totaled at least $850, according to ESPN. Sorsby also admits transferring “at least $60,000” to two friends to cover bets made on his behalf.

In his lawsuit, Sorsby explained his wagering on Indiana football was a “way of feeling connected to a team he could only watch from the sidelines,” according to the suit reviewed by On3. He also claims 2022 was the only time he bet on his own team’s games, which where all “in support of Indiana” and never included any games he “had a reasonable chance of playing in.” The stipulation of facts also reveals Sorsby continued gambling even after transferring to Texas Tech from Cincinnati this offseason, including sending $5,000 to friends the placed bets on his behalf on MLB, NBA and PGA Tour events, per ESPN.

Sorsby, 22, recently completed a 35-day stay at an in-patient treatment center in Arizona to address his gambling addiction, where he was clinically diagnosed with a serious anxiety and gambling disorder. Following his release last week, Sorsby’s high-powered legal team filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Lubbock District Court seeking an injunction against the NCAA from enforcing its eligibility rules against him, citing the potential harm losing eligibility would have on the Red Raiders QB’s mental health. If granted, the injunction would allow him to play the 2026 college football season while the NCAA’s usually lengthy investigation process continues to play out.

NCAA denies Brendan Sorsby request for reinstatement of eligibility ahead of court date

The NCAA formally denied Texas Tech‘s request to reinstate Sorsby’s collegiate eligibility on Tuesday amid its ongoing investigation into his admitted sports gambling addiction. Texas Tech appealed that decision on Friday, per ESPN, and is putting its full support behind their star transfer quarterback.

Sorsby’s legal team has asked the NCAA — and the court — to effectively treat his gambling addiction like it would other mental health issues and allow for some mitigation with regard to any penalty that might come from his past transgressions. Given the extent of his gambling history, Sorsby is facing permanent loss of his collegiate eligibility.

“Brendan asks only for the NCAA to abide by its commitment to evaluate his reinstatement appeal based on his actual conduct and the mental health condition that spurred it,” Sorsby’s attorney, Scott Tompsett, wrote in a letter to the NCAA, per ESPN. “The online gambling market has evolved at breakneck speed over the last several years. The NCAA at times has struggled to keep pace with developments and chart a course of action that promotes student-athlete welfare, while at the same time monetizing the gambling industry for its own benefit.”

NCAA guidelines from 2023 on sports betting say: “Student-athletes who engage in activities to influence the outcomes of their own games or knowingly provide information to individuals involved in sports betting activities will potentially face permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports. This would also apply to student-athletes who wager on their own games or on other sports at their own schools.”

Sorsby has agreed to continue the rehabilitation process related to his gambling addiction at Texas Tech, where the school’s nationally-recognized Center for Students in Addiction Recovery (CSAR) program has the resources to provide him with the structure needed. That includes “ongoing outpatient clinical care; participation in group and individual therapy; mentor resources; treatment for his related anxiety disorder; active monitoring of his technological devices; installation of software to block betting sites from his devices; the appointment of a custodian to oversee his personal finances; and periodic compliance checks,” according to a statement released by Tech president Lawrence Schovanec earlier this week.