Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby placed at least 40 bets on Indiana football while a member of the team, according to court documents filed Friday by his attorney.
Sorsby and his legal team detailed his history of sports wagering in the filings as the former IU quarterback seeks a temporary injunction against the NCAA to maintain his eligibility in district court in Lubbock County in Texas. Sorsby’s attorneys state that he’s been diagnosed with a gambling and anxiety disorder.
According to the documents, Sorsby placed at least $90,000 in impermissible wagers on college and professional sports over a four-year span through accounts registered in his name or the name of family and friends. While he was enrolled at Indiana from June 2022 through December 2023, he placed at least 2,900 bets totaling more than $30,000.
The documents state that Sorsby placed at least 40 bets on the “Indiana football team and/or the performance of individual members of the team” totaling at least $850 — the amounts ranged from less than $1 to $114 — from Sept. 2 to Oct. 22, 2022 when Sorsby was a then-true freshman in the midst of redshirting.
Sorsby also placed at least 50 impermissible bets on Indiana men’s basketball totaling more than $1,400, from Oct. 15, 2022 to Nov. 20, 2023.
“All of Sorsby’s wagers on Indiana football and most of his bets on Indiana men’s basketball were bets for the team and/or individual members of the team to exceed the odds set for the particular event (i.e., Sorsby was not betting on the underperformance of the team or any of his teammates),” the documents state. “Some of his bets on Indiana basketball were on the first half or total under (points) for the game.”
Per the filing, Sorsby stopped placing bets on Indiana football two weeks before making his debut in a 45-14 loss to Penn State on Nov. 5, 2022. He finished the game 3 of 6 for eight yards with an interception.
“Sorsby never bet on the Indiana team and/or individual members of the team in a game in which he participated,” the documents state. “He did not engage in any activity designed to influence the outcome or integrity of an intercollegiate contest or in an effort to affect win-loss margins (“point shaving”).”
According to the court documents, Sorsby wasn’t aware that accounts linked to him — and were redacted in the filing — placed an October 2022 bet for the “under” for Indiana quarterback’s passing yards and a September 2023 bet on the under for the first half of an Indiana game. Sorsby only became aware of those bets after his attorneys were provided with betting data.
During the 2023 season, Sorsby appeared in 10 games, making seven starts with his lone win coming against Wisconsin. He threw for 1,587 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. After IU parted ways with Tom Allen, Sorsby entered the transfer portal and went to Cincinnati.
In a personal statement dated May 16 included with the court filing, Sorsby detailed his gambling addiction and spoke about the bets he made while in Bloomington.
“When I first arrived at Indiana University on a football scholarship in June 2022, I came in later than some of the other freshmen who had arrived in January,” Sorsby wrote in his statement. “Unlike in my high school years, I did not feel like I was truly part of the team at first because I was only a member of the scout team and did not travel with the team to road contests. During that time in September and early October 2022, I placed small bets on sports, including bets on my own team. These bets made me feel like I was supporting the team when I was not playing in games, much like fans betting on their hometown teams to win. It was a way to make me feel more connected to my team when I wasn’t playing. I always bet on Indiana to succeed.
“Once I became part of the active roster with an opportunity to play, I immediately stopped betting on Indiana. However, my gambling on other sports did not stop; it escalated and became compulsive. What started small when I was in high school turned into a daily habit of betting on all kinds of sports, including some sports that I didn’t follow and had no interest in like tennis and Romanian soccer.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Brendan Sorsby admits to placing 40 bets on Indiana football while a member of team
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / Indianapolis Star
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