The Texas attorney general’s office warned the Big 12 on Thursday of potential legal action from Texas Tech as the conference considers what to do after Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby won a court order restoring his eligibility and setting aside his ban by the NCAA for gambling on pro and college sports.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said the notice came shortly before the start of the league’s executive board meeting to discuss its options in the Sorsby situation.
The temporary injunction issued Monday by a Texas district court prevents the NCAA from enforcing its permanent ban of Sorsby, a decision that sent shock waves across college sports. The transfer QB had been ruled ineligible after he acknowledged years of gambling that included at least 40 bets on his own team while he was a freshman at Indiana. Texas Tech said he has completed a month-long inpatient treatment program and will continue to receive treatment and support while being monitored.
What was the AG’s warning to the Big 12?
The letter from the Texas AG’s office was addressed to Yormark and Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod, the chairman of the Big 12 board of directors. It specifically references a conference bylaw that, with a supermajority vote, could result in sanctioning a school that has “engaged in any action or a course of conduct materially adverse to the best interests of the conference taken as a whole.”
The AG’s office said any sanctions against Texas Tech for “acting consistent” with the district court injunction “would be a per se violation of federal and state antitrust laws — a naked horizontal agreement among competitors to disadvantage Texas Tech by cutting off access to the resources it needs to compete.”
Beyond any antitrust exposure, the letter said, the Big 12 would also face liability for “breach of contract and tortious interference” for any sanction that results in the alteration of Texas Tech’s scheduled games.
The letter was signed by Thomas York, chief of the antitrust division, and Kimberly Gdula, chief of the litigation division. The attorney general, Ken Paxton, is the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate race in Texas this fall.
Yormark said the conference is taking time with its legal counsel to understand the concerns of the state.
There were also multiple reports that Jeffrey Kessler, who represents Sorsby in his case against the NCAA, sent a separate and similar letter Thursday to the Big 12. That letter reportedly referenced the same Big 12 bylaw and warned the league that it is bound by the court’s ruling this week.
The NCAA has said it will appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas, seeking an accelerated decision to overturn the injunction and again make Sorsby ineligible.
Big 12 is still considering all options
Since NCAA rules call for a permanent loss of eligibility for any player who wagered on his own team, the judge’s decision brought sharp criticism from college sports leadership, including in Texas Tech’s own league. The executive board met as planned Thursday in preparation for a meeting Monday of the Big 12’s full board of directors, which is made up of presidents and chancellors from the league’s 16 schools.
“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,” Yormark said. “Our discussion with the full board will determine our course of action, and all options remain on the table.”
The board meeting came two days after a conference call among Big 12 athletic directors, who expressed strong opposition to Sorsby playing for the Red Raiders in what will be his final college season. Some of those ADs even suggested maybe not playing Texas Tech if he does.
Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech in January for a reported multimillion-dollar deal after playing the past two seasons at Cincinnati, another Big 12 school. The Texas native first spent two seasons at Indiana.
The warning from a big booster
The threat of legal action came one day after Texas Tech billionaire booster and regents chair Cody Campbell mentioned that possibility during a podcast appearance with Dan Dakich. Campbell was addressing reports of schools talking about boycotting the Red Raiders.
“I love when the Big Ten or the K-State AD comes out and says we’ve all gotten together and we’ve talked about how we’re not going to play Tech, because guess what? That’s collusion,” Campbell said. “That’s an antitrust violation. So have fun with that one, guys. You can’t do that.”
Campbell, a former offensive lineman at the school, has been a key figure in helping Texas Tech land top players over the past two years.
The Red Raiders, with one of college football’s most expensive rosters, won their first Big 12 title last season. They set a school record with 12 wins and made it to the 12-team College Football Playoff. Sorsby was brought in to be the starting quarterback after hometown favorite Behren Morton exhausted his eligibility.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
