Brendan Sorsby eligibility case: Lawsuit vs. NCAA gets June 1 hearing date

Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby‘s eligibility case against the NCAA has been assigned a temporary injunction hearing set for 9 am CT, June 1, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. This news comes on the same day a new presiding judge was assigned to the case. The June 1 hearing date falls in line with Sorsby’s requested timeline ahead of the June 22 deadline to declare for the NFL Supplemental Draft.

Retired Tarrant County senior judge Kenneth C. Curry was assigned to the Sorsby v. NCAA case in Lubbock County District Court on Thursday by 9th Administrative Judicial Region presiding judge Anna Estevez, per Nakos. The case will be Curry’s first since 2019. Curry replaces Lubbock County judge Phillip Hays, who has two degrees from Texas Tech and formally recused himself Wednesday.

Curry earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas-Arlington in 1974 and then graduated from the University of Houston Law Center in 1976, according to his law profile on Trellis. Curry formally retired from the bench in 2012, but has continued serving as a visiting judge for Tarrant County, per Trellis.

Sorsby is seeking a temporary injunction against the NCAA ruling him ineligible. If granted, the injunction would feasibly allow him to play out the 2026 college football season while the NCAA’s usually lengthy investigation process plays out behind the scenes. Sorsby’s legal team has cited potential damage to the Texas Tech QB’s mental health among the reasons for the injunction.

Sorsby’s lawsuit, filed Monday in Lubbock County District Court, is viewed as an attempt to expedite the NCAA investigative process into his admitted gambling activities between 2022-25. Sorsby recently retained famous antitrust lawyer and NCAA nemesis Jeffrey Kessler, who was among the lead attorneys in the landmark Alston v. NCAA and House v. NCAA cases over the past few years, both of which resulted in significant losses for the NCAA and ushered in widespread changes to college athletics.

Texas Tech formally declared their star transfer QB ineligible on Monday after finalizing an agreed-upon stipulation of facts with the NCAA and Sorsby’s legal team. The school also announced their intent to “quickly initiate the reinstatement process” with the NCAA and that “Texas Tech’s primary focus remains supporting Sorsby’s health and well-being.”

Sorsby has been in a residential treatment program for his admitted “gambling addiction” since April, when Texas Tech announced he was taking “indefinite leave of absence” from the program. In his lawsuit, Sorsby’s legal team confirms he has placed “thousands” of bets since 2022, including several on Hoosiers football games when he was a true freshman at Indiana. He also allegedly placed several small wagers at multiple Cincinnati Reds games while he attended Cincinnati between 2024-25, per Nakos. Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech this offseason as one of the most sought-after players in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

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.”