Texas AG wades into Big 12's Brendan Sorsby deliberations

With the Big 12 weighing how to handle the court-mandated eligibility of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, the office of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton warned the conference against sanctioning the Red Raiders.

The 15 Big 12 athletic directors excluding Texas Tech met Tuesday and unanimously expressed their opposition to Sorsby playing for the Red Raiders. The conference presidents met Thursday and a full board meeting is scheduled for Monday, with the Big 12 pondering how to proceed.

Earlier this week, a district court judge in Texas granted Sorsby a temporary injunction, stopping the NCAA from ruling him ineligible. The NCAA had reached that decision after court documents filed by Sorsby's legal team showed the quarterback placed at least 40 bets on the Indiana football team while a member of the program in 2022 and 2023. In all, he wagered about $90,000 over a four-year period. He entered an addiction treatment program on April 27.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark wrote in a statement on Thursday, "Shortly before the start of today's Big 12 Executive Board meeting, the Conference received a letter from the Texas Attorney General's office notifying the Conference of potential legal action from Texas Tech if the Conference pursues certain actions under its Bylaws. We are taking time with our legal counsel to understand the concerns of the state and will meet again with the full Board next week.

"We moved forward with our Executive Board today in preparation for our full Board meeting on Monday. We had a good and informative discussion. Sentiment among the Executive Board was no different from what we heard from the ADs earlier this week."

The NCAA went to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas in Amarillo, Texas, earlier this week and asked for an "accelerated appeal" of the temporary injunction that restored Sorsby's eligibility.

--Field Level Media