'Sad day': Coaches, ADs stunned by Sorsby ruling

Pete Thamel and Max Olson

Jun 8, 2026, 05:44 PM ET

A judge's decision to rule Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby eligible on Monday morning roiled college sports, with reactions ranging from doomsday predictions to informal chatter about Big 12 schools attempting to not play Texas Tech this season.

The reaction around college sports was nearly unanimous, with the idea of Sorsby playing in 2026 after admitting to thousands of bets on sports -- including 40 on his own team -- representing the latest crossroads for an industry that has faced a dizzying number of them in recent years.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told ESPN the ruling represents a "horrendous pattern" that is "eroding the integrity of our process." A Big 12 AD told ESPN that they are "disgusted" and added: "We officially lost our soul." TCU coach Sonny Dykes told ESPN: "How is anyone ever going to trust the outcome of a game again?"

Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks forbid his school's teams, in a memo to staff, from playing Texas Tech, as per the document obtained by ESPN. And a fellow athletic director from the SEC, Florida's Scott Stricklin, told ESPN he was "stunned," even recalling Major League Baseball's 1919 "Black Sox Scandal," when eight players from the Chicago White Sox took bribes to lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

"As someone who grew up reading about the 'Black Sox Scandal,' and seeing what happened to Pete Rose and just understanding how bright that line seemed to be in all of American sports, I'm stunned that there would be a question at the court level that this is acceptable," Stricklin said. "That's not a judgment on the young man. It's just that was a pretty fundamental tenet of American sports, that if you're going to participate, you can't gamble, especially on your own team."

TCU athletic director Mike Buddie and Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor both told ESPN that there has been informal chatter in the league about schools not playing Texas Tech this year.

"We anticipate having conversations surrounding it," Buddie told ESPN. "We're all anticipating it, but this has not been formally discussed."

The Big 12 athletic directors are set to have a conference call Tuesday with commissioner Brett Yormark, according to sources, and in a statement made to ESPN, Yormark confirmed meetings will occur this week. It's unknown how much purview the league would have, as the judge's ruling is law.

"The ramifications of today's ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership," Yormark told ESPN. "I've been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled meetings with our conference ADs and executive board this week. We are also in touch with [NCAA president] Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation."

Taylor said that there have been "side comments" about not playing Texas Tech in Big 12 meetings by a few athletic directors but acknowledged that it might not be an option.

Taylor didn't hold back with his opinions, calling it: "A sad day for not only college athletics, but college sports in general. I give him credit for admitting and seeking help for his addiction, but to put him back in a high-profile, stressful role with that type of an issue is not helping him. But I am not an addiction profession, so what do I know."

Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said in a statement that he was "disheartened" by the news, as Sorsby's violations were "clear violations of NCAA policies and ethical guidelines." He added that "we are all committed to supporting student-athlete well-being, but we also must have a definitive path forward that preserves the most basic tenets of competitive integrity in our industry."

The facts of the Sorsby case have been well established. The NCAA was alerted to Sorsby's gambling in March after law enforcement tipped off a sportsbook. The organization notified Texas Tech of its investigation in April, and Texas Tech deemed Sorsby ineligible after he admitted to having a gambling addiction and went to an in-patient rehab center.

While Texas Tech worked through process of attempting to get Sorsby reinstated, the quarterback lawyered up and sued the NCAA on May 18, seeking an injunction that would prevent the NCAA from banning him. Sorsby acknowledged he had wagered at least $90,000 on pro and college sports over the past four years, including 40 bets on Indiana football while he was a freshman with the Hoosiers in 2022.

As the legal process played out, animosity simmered in the league. That boiled over on Monday, as Dykes called it "a bad day for college football."

Dykes said that he does not know Sorsby and wishes him the best. But the issue here is upholding the integrity of the game.

"You would hope that there would be someone at some point that says, 'Hey look, this is not a good thing for the game and I care enough about the game to not let this happen,'" Dykes, a Texas Tech graduate, told ESPN. "I think it's sad that these adults and people who are supposed to guide college football aren't guiding it. I think it's a shame. Everyone is looking out for their self-interests. No one is looking out for what's right in college football."

Dykes added that he's worried his players might think it's OK to bet on football now, as all they'll see in headlines is that Sorsby bet and now he's eligible.

Attorney Jeffrey Kessler succeeded in framing Sorsby's gambling history as a mental health and addiction issue and argued the NCAA was obligated to consider his well-being and support him rather than punish him.

Retired Tarrant County judge Ken Curry ruled in Sorsby's favor, finding that the quarterback would suffer "irreparable injury" if he isn't granted a temporary injunction allowing him to play for the Red Raiders this season.

"At the core, for 50 years, grown-ups in charge of higher education have made decisions to do what's right," Buddie told ESPN. "This is a situation, there's clearly an opportunity to do what's right. I hope that's where we end up."

What that would be, remains to be seen. Texas Tech has been staunchly behind Sorsby, with president Lawrence Schovanec saying in a letter to the Tech community: "We believe his vulnerability deserves to be met with the full weight of this institution's support."

Around the Big 12, there's skepticism about that stance.

"The hypocrisy is consistent throughout our profession right now," a Big 12 head coach told ESPN. "Nobody cares about the betterment of the game and its future anymore. Everybody's in survival mode on how they can win and survive right now -- college administrators, college commissioners and college coaches. That's how it's going to be until it f----- crashes and burns."

Outside of the Big 12, the judge's decision left a mark around college athletics. Brooks' memo made it clear that "Georgia athletics will not schedule future contests against Texas Tech until further notice."

"Please review your sport's current schedules and future scheduling plans," Brooks wrote. "If you have contests currently scheduled against Texas Tech, or are actively engaged in scheduling discussions with Texas Tech, please notify your sports administrator as soon as possible so we can evaluate the situation and determine next steps.

"Effective immediately, no new contests should be scheduled against Texas Tech without prior approval from the athletic department."

In speaking with ESPN Monday, Brooks, like Dykes, leaned on the integrity of the game.

"I think it's important that we as institutions fight for the integrity of the game," he said. "We cannot continue to let state courts dictate eligibility. We must stand up for what's right. This isn't right. If we can't agree on this, I don't know what we can agree on."

ESPN senior college football writer Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.