The Wednesday twist on the Brendan Sorsby case is one that shouldn’t really surprise anybody: The judge who was handed the case is formally handing it right back — a Lepellier Refusal from the legal world.
Judge Phillip Hays presides over the 99th District Court in Lubbock, and he’s recused himself from the matter. Someone else can decide whether the would-be starting quarterback of the Texas Tech football team gets to play in 2026.
Good for him. It’s the right move on the part of Hays, who would have invited scorn no matter how he ruled — especially considering he’s a Lubbock native and Texas Tech graduate who’s practiced law in Lubbock for about 36 years. Not to mention a reporter the other day dug up a photo of Hays at the Memorial Civic Center, flashing a Guns Up while standing alongside a Raider Red.
Sorsby’s legal team filed an injunction this week seeking to block the NCAA from sidelining Sorsby this coming season. The Indiana-turned-Cincinnati-now-Texas Tech quarterback acknowledged a gambling addiction and that he made bets on his team and prop bets on teammates while he was redshirting during the Hoosiers’ 2022 season.
Among the thousands of bets Sorsby’s made the past few years, those are the ones that put his immediate future at stake. Bet on your own team, you’re done. There’s no qualifier for not getting into the game or not being on the travel roster. The NCAA’s penalty is permanent ineligibility, as it should be.
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, if you think college football is rife with conspiracy theories every Saturday now, just wait until gambling on your own team is deemed no big deal. Sports, at least sports that still profess to prioritize integrity, can’t go there, no matter what some Gen Z’er poking around on FanDuel tells you.
Can’t blame Hays for wanting no part of this. No matter how he would’ve come down, cynicism would have followed right behind.
Rule in Sorsby’s favor by granting the injunction, and outsiders would have been crowing about a hometown judge setting legal considerations aside.
Rule in the NCAA’s favor by denying the injunction, and he unleashes feral football fans, some of whom believe loyalty to team trumps sworn duty to honestly interpret the law. The man has to live here, work here, and go out in public here. By handing off the case, he won’t have to deal with those nuts.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Judge recusing on Texas Tech football case makes right call | Opinion
Reporting by Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
