With college athletics already facing an uphill climb thanks to an influx of money through name, image and likeness (NIL) and revenue sharing through the House settlement, a sports gambling scandal is the last thing anyone needed.
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Unfortunately, that’s what administrators and coaches find themselves dealing with in the fallout to Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who won a temporary injunction on Monday, making him eligible to play this season despite being deemed ineligible by the NCAA after admitting to betting on sports, including college football.
Like many in the business, UCF athletics director Terry Mohajir had his own reaction to the news.
“I was surprised, but not shocked,” Mohajir told the Sentinel on Tuesday, citing the increased number of lawsuits in college athletics.
Sorsby is eligible to play this upcoming season after a Texas judge granted the senior quarterback a temporary injunction. The Texas native was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA after admitting to wagering at least $90,000 on professional and college sports over the past four years, including placing bets on his own team while at Indiana.
Sorsby sued the NCAA on May 18, seeking instant eligibility for the upcoming season, his first with the Red Raiders.
The NCAA, meanwhile, filed a formal appeal in Lubbock County, Texas, on Monday evening. However, any appeal would most likely take place after the college football season.
Reaction to Monday’s news boiled over quickly, with reports that schools such as Georgia and Nebraska were publicly forbidding their sports teams from scheduling games against Texas Tech. The Big Ten officials are also reportedly expected to discuss the matter in the coming days and could initiate a league-wide mandate for its schools.
Mohajir wasn’t surprised by those reactions.
“There is not a lot of unity in college athletics right now, but it was refreshing to see that people still want rules and to compete with basic principles and integrity,” he stated.
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark spoke with the league’s athletic directors on a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
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“We had a thoughtful and productive conversation with our athletics directors today as we continue to work through the broader implications of this situation,” Yormark said in a statement following the call. “Many of our athletics directors voiced their opinions. We will continue to have open and honest dialogue amongst the group and until there is something to report, these conversations will remain within the conference.”
Mohajir was part of that conference call and while he wouldn’t discuss specifics, he did say the discussions were ‘good.’
Yormark is scheduled to meet with Big 12 university presidents on Thursday, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. The league presidents have the power to sanction a school for actions detrimental to the conference.
Mohajir is choosing not to address anything specific to Texas Tech or Brendan Sorsby, but rather wanted to address the larger issue of sports betting and its impact on college athletics.
In a statement he released to the Sentinel, Mohajir said:
“The integrity of competition must remain non-negotiable. Gambling on sports, particularly those in which a student-athlete participates, strikes at the heart of what makes college athletics credible. Institutions cannot control court rulings, legal strategies or judicial outcomes. What we can control is playing time and the standards we set for participation in our programs.
“At UCF, if a student-athlete were found to have engaged in sports gambling that violated NCAA rules, that individual would be deemed ineligible for competition by UCF. We would still continue to support that student-athlete’s mental health and academic pursuits, but participation on the field would be out of the question, and I would make a strong recommendation to our president with that action. Rules only have value when they are enforced consistently and carry meaningful consequences. Our student-athletes, coaches, fans and institutions deserve a system that protects the integrity of the game.”
Mohajir stressed that it’s up to the Big 12 to help set an example.
“We as a league and as practitioners have been put in a position to lead and the rest of the country, as it relates to college athletics, is looking at what type of action we will be,” he said.
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: [email protected]. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
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