Brendan Sorsby retains lawyer for potential NCAA eligibility battle amid gambling allegations

Brendan Sorsby has retained prominent sports labor lawyer Jeffrey Kessler as the Texas Tech transfer quarterback prepares for a potential eligibility battle against the NCAA, Kessler confirmed to The Athletic.

Kessler has decades of experience in sports law, having worked on cases that helped bring free agency to the NFL and the NBA. More recently, the 71-year-old was the co-lead plaintiff attorney in the landmark House v. NCAA settlement, which forever changed college athletics by permitting schools to pay athletes directly for their name, image and likeness.

The Athletic confirmed Sorsby is under investigation by the NCAA for gambling, and he recently took an “immediate indefinite leave of absence” from the Texas Tech football program to enter a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction.

A fifth-year senior, Sorsby has one year of eligibility remaining after spending two years at Indiana and the last two with the Cincinnati Bearcats. He was considered one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal this winter and signed a one-year deal with the Red Raiders that was expected to pay him more than $4 million.

But Sorsby’s eligibility is in question after allegations emerged this week indicating he might have bet on Indiana football games in 2022 while he was a redshirt freshman for the Hoosiers. According to updated NCAA sports betting guidelines passed in 2023, players who bet on games involving their own school face potential permanent loss of eligibility. That also applies if they engage in activities to influence the outcome of games or knowingly provide information to people involved in sports betting.

Sorsby could pursue a lawsuit against the NCAA if he’s stripped of his eligibility. Numerous college athletes have taken that path in recent years, with Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss a recent successful example, but none of those instances involved a permanent ineligibility decision based on gambling violations.

Sorsby could also elect to pursue the NFL supplemental draft this summer. The league canceled the supplemental draft the past couple of years, and no player has been selected in it since 2019. The NFL would have to hold the draft and allow Sorsby to take part, neither of which is a guarantee.

Texas Tech has committed to supporting Sorsby through his recovery process, but the school did not provide a timeline for his treatment plan or indicate whether he would return to the football program.