UGA AD forbids school from scheduling Texas Tech in wake of Sorsby ruling

Brooks suggested in a Yahoo Sports article published earlier Monday that all programs should consider taking drastic action and not play Texas Tech in any sports if Sorsby — who has acknowledged gambling on his own team while at Indiana — is on the field.

Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor told Yahoo there has been “serious conversation” in the Big 12 about not playing the Red Raiders in football after a judge in Lubbock provided an injunction that would clear the Texas Tech quarterback to play.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has scheduled meetings with his conference ADs and executive board this week, On3 reports, and said he anticipates the NCAA will appeal the decision in 24-48 hours.

The NCAA issued a public statement representing its stance and disagreement with the judge’s ruling.

Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec, in an open letter to the NCAA on May 26 reported by USA Today, presented the opinion that the NCAA has a “mission” to help foster and care for student-athletes dealing with addictions.

“As a generation of college athletes face the legalization and rapid proliferation of sports betting in our country, gambling addiction is rising to the point of epidemic among college aged men in particular,” the letter said. “The NCAA’s stated mission includes ‘fostering (student-athletes’) lifelong well-being,’ and they have claimed their goal is to promote a ‘culture of care’ for student athletes’ mental health.

“Gambling addiction is a clinically recognized behavioral disorder, as defined in the DSM-5.”

Brooks, who serves on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, told Yahoo Sports that the Texas judge’s decision affects much more than just Sorsby and Texas Tech football.

“I think there needs to be serious conversations about not playing Texas Tech any sports,” Brooks said. “This is not about Texas Tech — it’s about protecting our own locker room. We cannot in good conscience put our student-athletes on a field where the competitive integrity of the contest is compromised and overridden by the courts.

“If a state court wants to dictate eligibility rules, they can play themselves.”

Former Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich agrees with that concept.

“You have the Mississippi (Trinidad Chambliss granted another year of eligibility by a local judge) and today, there are others,” Radakovich told Yahoo.

“You can’t have localized decisions move past NCAA rules.”

Brooks and UGA president Jere Morehead have been among the most outspoken administrative leaders on the need for rules enforcement.

“We can’t allow the Wild West to continue any longer,” Morehead said on May 21 at UGA’s athletic association board of directors meeting.

“… We cannot continue down this current path, and we have waited months after months for Congress to act, and it hasn’t occurred yet.”

Morehead followed up on Monday in an interview with Yahoo, saying: “For anyone who dismissed my previous calls for SEC rules of enforcement and the SEC institutions only playing each other, today’s ruling is clear evidence why that may be the only path left for us.”

Morehead and other collegiate leaders are seeking Congress to grant antitrust protection that would empower the NCAA to enforce rules without being subject to legal action.

The Protect College Sports Act was introduced on May 27, containing several measures intended to provide reform and stability to what’s become a fluid and unsteady collegiate rules landscape.

The bill contains many measures most all collegiate leadership supports, most notably requiring agents to register, supporting women’s and Olympic sports and limiting athletes to one transfer without penalty.

The SEC and Big Ten, however, have publicly opposed the bill, noting in a joint statement that it “leaves critical issues unresolved,” including not “meaningfully” preempting state laws with a federal one.

Brooks suggests that if Texas Tech puts a known gambler on the field at quarterback, it’s time for athletic programs to take matters into their own hands.

“All FBS schools should only take the field against programs operating under a uniform, trustworthy standard of fairness,” Brooks said. “We’ve officially reached the point of no return.”

Tulane sports law professor Gabe Feldman suggests the outcry after the Texas judge’s ruling on Sorsby could be what triggers Congress to act.

“If there’s one thing that could unify a divided Congress to pass a law that gives the NCAA more authority to govern itself,” Feldman posted, “it might be a court prohibiting the NCAA from banning athletes who bet on their own games.”