A new documentary captures the fallout of the Brendan Sorsby situation at Texas Tech, including Sorsby's first public statements. "The Program" debuts Friday on Paramount+ after following the Red Raiders from January until August of this offseason. "I know how quickly things can go wrong," Sorsby said in the documentary.
"Everything can get ripped from you. ... I have a ton of remorse, a ton of regret. In my head, I'm thinking I just threw everything I worked for in my entire life out of the window, it's over." Sorsby went through extensive legal drama over the offseason after it was revealed that he placed thousands of bets while a college athlete, including betting on his own team during his first season at Indiana.
He was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA. However, Sorsby became a lightning rod when he successfully sued the NCAA for eligibility. Despite the decision having legal standing, the backlash was swift.
The Big 12 threatened a lawsuit against Texas Tech that could have banned them from the conference championship game, leading to Sorsby ultimately stepping away. "You know, I expected some pushback," Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire told the film crew. "I never saw what was coming." The documentary crew captured the team meeting where McGuire told a stunned room that Sorsby was stepping away from the team to check into gambling rehab.
They also captured his return to campus after the injunction, where he expressed relief Later, McGuire told the team that he and Sorsby had discussed it and agreed he should step away from the team. "What he does not want to do is put this team in a situation where we play all year long and the Big 12 sanctions us to where we can't go to the Big 12 Championship, and by extension, not go to the playoff," McGuire said to the team. "Brendan Sorsby does not want to do that.
So he's going to step away, and it sucks." Sorsby told the documentary crew that his relationship with gambling dated back to his senior year of high school, when friends would cross the Texas-Oklahoma border to visit Winstar World Casino and gamble. "I definitely liked gambling," Sorsby said. "I couldn't watch sporting activities without wanting to have something at stake.
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