Texas Tech backs QB in eligibility fight with NCAA after stint in gambling rehab

Texas Tech University is voicing support for a star quarterback who checked himself in to rehab for gambling addiction and is fighting the NCAA for a return to the field this fall.

Brendan Sorsby, who the school said has completed an intensive inpatient treatment program for a diagnosed gambling addiction and anxiety disorder, is asking the NCAA to reinstate his eligibility after he acknowledged wagering on sports, including on his own team when he was a freshman at Indiana.

The NCAA recently denied Sorsby’s petition, a move that the school plans to appeal, Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec wrote in a letter to the community this week.

“We believe that given the facts and the context of Brendan’s case, the NCAA’s ruling should be reversed or modified. As a generation of college athletes face the legalization and rapid proliferation of sports betting in our country, gambling addiction is rising to the point of epidemic among college aged men in particular,” Schovanec said. “The NCAA bylaws governing Brendan’s case have not adapted to the era of........

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