Brendan Sorsby can get best possible support at Texas Tech | AD Hocutt

Texas Tech University athletic director Kirby Hocutt issued a statement June 10 as a response to the reaction from "colleagues across college athletics" to a court ruling earlier in the week to block the NCAA from declaring former University of Cincinnati Bearcats and current Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby ineligible.

"I owe it to Texas Tech, and frankly to the truth, to offer a few facts that seem to be getting lost in the noise," Hocutt explained in the statement.

"Brendan Sorsby has not played a single down of football as a Red Raider," Hocutt said. "He will miss the first two games of the 2026 season under the terms of the court's ruling. What happens after that will depend, in no small part, on how his recovery continues to progress. We're taking it one day at a time, as he is."

Hocutt said the school is "not operating on blind faith."

Athletic directors from other schools are debating whether to play the Red Raiders in multiple sports, per multiple reports.

Athletic director Kirby Hocutt says Texas Tech didn't file Brendan Sorsby's lawsuit

"Texas Tech is not a party to Brendan's lawsuit," Hocutt said. "We did not file it. We did not fund it. 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. Our role has been to support his recovery, not to engineer his eligibility."

Hocutt insisted that he believes "integrity is central to our industry's success," and mentioned his two sons, including one who recently graduated from Texas Tech and played football. He said he's asked himself how he would approach this situation if Sorsby was his own son.

"Let me be direct about what Texas Tech's position actually is," Hocutt said. "We are glad Brendan is still part of our community, because that is where we can extend him the best possible support in his ongoing recovery. Clinical care, device monitoring, financial oversight, outpatient therapy − that infrastructure exists because we take our responsibility to this young man seriously. … This situation is hard, it is new and there is no perfect answer."

AD Kirby Hocutt says Texas Tech 'will continue to be transparent in our decision-making.'

Sorsby played the past two seasons for the Bearcats after spending his first two seasons at Indiana University. Sorsby left UC for Texas Tech, which he chose over LSU.

UC is scheduled to face the Red Raiders in its Homecoming game, in October at Nippert Stadium.

The NCAA ruled Sorsby ineligible and denied his request for reinstatement. Sorsby's attorneys sought a temporary injunction allowing him to play for the Red Raiders in 2026.

Sorsby placed at least 40 bets involving IU football while quarterback for the Hoosiers, used sportsbook accounts registered to a family member and friends to wager approximately $90,000 over four years and continued to gamble after transferring from UC to Texas Tech, according to ESPN.

Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken indicated June 2 that he wouldn't be inclined to select Sorsby in the NFL's supplemental draft, if Sorsby is ruled ineligible to play college football.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Brendan Sorsby can get best possible support at Texas Tech | AD Hocutt