The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to the Big 12 on behalf of Texas Tech and obtained by @TheAthletic.
It states that any sanctions against Texas Tech over the Brendan Sorsby situation would be treated as "unlawful" and would lead to legal action.
I understand why people are uncomfortable with the Brendan Sorsby situation. Betting on sports as a college athlete is serious. Betting connected to your own team creates an obvious integrity concern. Nobody has to minimize that.
But there is another side to this that college football people should at least be honest enough to acknowledge.
When a player becomes part of your program, he becomes part of your football family. That does not mean you excuse everything. It does not mean accountability disappears. It means you do not abandon him the second the situation becomes difficult, public, or uncomfortable.
There is a difference between defending the person and defending the mistake.
Texas Tech is in an impossible spot. Deep down, they may have hoped the final ruling would remove the decision from their hands. Exhaust every option, support the player, let the process play out, and if he is ruled ineligible, accept it. That is the cleanest outcome for a program trying to balance loyalty, discipline, public pressure, and competitive integrity.
But now the court has ruled that he is legally allowed to play. That changes the structure of the decision.
If Texas Tech turns its back on him now, what message does that send to every player and family they recruit? That we will fight for you until the pressure gets too loud? That we will call you family when you are producing, but distance ourselves when standing beside you becomes inconvenient?
If I were recruiting against Texas Tech and they abandoned him after he was legally cleared to play, I would use that every time. Not because the mistake does not matter, but because trust matters. Families want to know what happens when their son is injured, struggling, accused, embarrassed, or sitting in the middle of a situation nobody wants attached to the program.
Accountability and loyalty are not opposites.
You can believe justice should be served. You can believe the integrity of the game matters. You can believe gambling violations deserve real consequence. You can also believe that a program should stand by its people through the full process, not just through the easy parts.
That is the hard part of family.
You do not only fight for your people when the optics are clean. You fight for them through the good and the bad, while still demanding accountability, treatment, discipline, and truth.
Texas Tech may not like the position it is in. Most programs would not. But once he is legally allowed to play and remains part of the Red Raider family, abandoning him strictly because of social pressure would send its own message.
And that message may be harder to overcome than the controversy itself.
'PTI' debates Brendan Sorsby injunction:
"Every other school in that conference and in the SEC and in the Big Ten would look at taking a guy like Sorsby, because he's a very good quarterback." 🏈 🤔
For the record, Karmelo Anthony does NOT have an all white jury. Please stop spreading false information. I have been following this case since the very beginning. I was in the courtroom. I’ve seen his jury face to face.
"When Georgia goes high moral ground, watch out. That's a football program that should have its own Autobahn. Give me a break... This is a kid that did something idiotic, which is what kids do."
@colincowherd weighs in on Brendan Sorsby being ruled eligible in 2026
Why is everyone hating on Texas Tech Football now??? Because they figured it out in this new era of CFB??
No one was saying anything about what was going on in the SEC pre NIL. And we all know certain programs were throwing bags around & winning chips pre nil. It's alot of hate & some scared as hell mixed in for some😂😂. I love this scared money don't make money era of CFB.
Sorsby's lawyers were not attacking NCAA's ability to prosecute for gambling violations. In Sorsby's case, they argued the athlete's mental condition diagnosed by a medical professional should be considered for mitigation of penalties. Historically, the NCAA at times, acts without transparency and consistency in enforcement cases. There are scores of examples. In this case, the NCAA said it did not find any mitigating factors. Under the NCAA's own rules, they're supposed to consider mitigating factors. That's what helped Sorsby win -- for now. Retired judge from Metroplex --hundreds of miles from West Texas with no TT affiliation -- made the decision. Although the decision came in Lubbock County, the case was assigned to an administrative judge for the entire district (Kenneth Curry) after original Tech-aligned judge recused himself. That said, I was floored by the decision.
The least surprising news of all time is that Texas Tech is vilified because of a judge’s ruling in the Sorsby case.
The only issue is Texas Tech did not step one toe out of line in the entire process.
BREAKING: Four-Star ATH Gideon Gash has Committed to Texas Tech, he tells me for @Rivals
The 6’4 205 ATH chose the Red Raiders over Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama, and Michigan State
He’s ranked as the No. 3 ATH in the 2027 Rivals300
https://t.co/UOdZjh9lcu
The state has now rested its case against Karmelo Anthony. We had heard rumors that Hunter Metcalf might be testifying today, but the state is now done calling witnesses. Then the judge asked Karmelo's defense team what was next.
Defense asked for the court to move to a direct verdict. That's a motion asking a judge to rule in their favor before a case is submitted to the jury, arguing that the opposing side has legally failed to present enough evidence to prove their claim
Judge said no.
Then the judge asked the defense what's next. They said they didn't know and we are now taking a break.
Denton Guyer defensive lineman and new #TexasTech commit Khyren Haywood (@KhyrenHaywood) on his official visit in Lubbock 🔴🏠
🎥: 1of1.khy/IG
https://t.co/ayeDrsYvVQ
Let's not do this - no one lined up to shake hands. They were celebrating. Tech players came out later, there's videos of them hugging Texas players. It just didn't happen immediately after because of the trophy/celebration.
🚨UPDATE🚨
The medical examiner, Dr. Elizabeth Ventura, just testified.
The medical examiner testifies that Austin was stabbed once in the chest.
The stabbing pieced a portion of his heart and the bone on his center of the chest.
The knife went completely through Austin’s heart wall.
The prosecutors were trying to show a photo of the autopsy. They walked the photo to the defense. Karmelo looked away.
According to the Daily Mail, one female juror was “covering her mouth” when she saw Austin’s heart.
Both Austin Metcalf’s parents and some of his family left the room to avoid hearing the details.
Karmelo Anthony’s mother also walked out.
@sentuberville (aka “Coach”). Sent this letter to a bunch of college athletic directors, apparently in attempt to undercut the great progress on and momentum behind the bi-partisan Protect College Sports Act.
According to his letter, Coach sees eligibility exemptions for Military Service, Religious Missions, and Pregnancy as a bad thing? I thought he was pro military, pro faith, and pro family??
Instead of running a subversive and sneaky campaign (probably at someone else’s behest - you obviously hasn’t even read the thing), wherein you misrepresent and confuse the contents of the bill, and try to get a bunch of AD’s worked up, why don’t you just walk down the hall, share your experience with your colleagues, and offer some constructive ways to make the bill even better? Your wisdom and experience would be welcomed in the conversation.
Inform yourself, read the bill, and stop trying to play political games. You know, as well as anyone, that the lives and futures of hundreds of thousands of young athletes hang in the balance.
From covering @TexasTechSB in the mid-90s on the wasteland, barren fields of Berl Huffman Complex to seeing this program compete at the highest levels of the sport the last two years.... you can kiss my ass if you think this is a "failure" of a season because Texas Tech didn't win the National Championship.
That narrative is driven by those who don't want Texas Tech involved in the private club that has been college softball for decades...
For any Texas Tech team to finish a game or a day out of a National Title.... it's a great day.
Thank you Texas Tech Softball for the ride and we'll see you next year....
WreckEm
West Texas is the Best Texas