Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt defended his university’s role, or lack thereof, in the ongoing Brendan Sorsby saga while issuing support to the Red Raiders’ star transfer quarterback shortly after he was granted a temporary injunction by a Texas judge that will allow him to compete in the 2026 college football season.
The ruling from Tarrant County Judge Ken Curry on Monday, June 8 prevents the NCAA from punishing Sorsby for violating the organization’s rules on sports betting.
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In his statement, Hocutt noted that Texas Tech did not file or fund Sorsby’s lawsuit.
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“A young man in treatment for a clinically diagnosed addiction exercised his legal right to seek a remedy in court, and a judge agreed with him,” Hocutt said. “Our role has been to support his recovery, not engineer his eligibility.”
The Red Raiders have become a magnet of intense criticism from across the college sports world in the 48 hours after Curry’s decision. In a Yahoo Sports story, Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor described Sorsby’s reinstatement as “f***ing bulls***” and another Big 12 athletic director, who requested anonymity to the outlet, said Texas Tech “should be ashamed of itself.” The idea of schools refusing to play the Red Raiders in any sport has been publicly discussed by athletic administrators, including Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks, who told Yahoo that his school could not “in good conscience put our student-athletes on a field where the competitive integrity of the contest is compromised and overridden by the courts.”
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Hocutt said that while he understands the frustration of his colleagues, there is “no perfect answer” to the predicament.
“I’ve heard the word ‘integrity’ used a great deal in the last 48 hours,” Hocutt said. “As someone who has dedicated his career to college sports, I, too, believe integrity is central to our industry’s success. I also think integrity applies on more than one front. The integrity of sport matters. So does the integrity of how we treat a 22-year-old who sought help, entered residential treatment, and is working every day toward recovery. Those two things don’t have to be in conflict.”
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt addresses Brendan Sorsby injuction: ‘No perfect answer’
