Connect with us

Texas

Big 12 pursuing legal action against Texas Tech, Texas attorney general over Brendan Sorsby

Published

on

Big 12 pursuing legal action against Texas Tech, Texas attorney general over Brendan Sorsby


The Big 12 has started down the legal path to potentially sanction Texas Tech over its intention to play quarterback Brendan Sorsby.

On Monday, the conference filed a 47-page complaint against Texas Tech, the Texas attorney general, the system’s chancellor, the school president and athletic director in seeking declaratory judgement and a preliminary injunction to enable it to enforce its bylaws.

Advertisement

In this landmark case — a league filing legally against one of its members — the Big 12 is asking a federal court to bar Texas Tech and the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, from preventing the conference from “exercising its right under its bylaws to sanction Texas Tech,” according to the complaint obtained by Yahoo Sports, which was filed in the Northern District of Texas in Dallas.

Advertisement

The league is not seeking damages in the filing and is not challenging a state court ruling deeming Sorsby eligible, but is instead asking a federal judge to permit it to take action against the Red Raiders in light of legal threats made from the Texas attorney general, whose letter to the league last week seems to have triggered the Big 12’s filing. The letter from Paxton’s office demanded that the league refrain from exercising its governance authority, characterizing any sanction as an antitrust violation and threatening joint liability against the conference.

Perhaps most notably, the complaint lays out the conference’s intention to sanction Texas Tech if it were to play Sorsby, who has acknowledged to betting on his own team while a freshman at Indiana, violating one of sports’ most sacred policies.

According to the filing, Big 12 conference officials, university presidents and athletic directors have requested that Tech not play Sorsby, but “TTU has not agreed,” resulting in the conference considering a variety of sanctions. Big 12 presidents and chancellors are scheduled to meet later Monday afternoon, though a decision on sanctions is not necessarily expected then.

Advertisement

“If a vote were to occur however,” the complaint says, “some of the potential sanctions the Board could consider under the bylaws include monetary sanctions and/or a ban on competing in the Big 12 Championship Game.”

Advertisement

There is “considerable concern” within the Big 12 that the league will incur “reputational harm and irreparable damage to public and member trust in the integrity of league compensations” if Sorsby were to play and is concerned that the Red Raiders would “take a spot” from another school in the league championship game “with a player that has acted contrary” to conference values.

“In an industry that rarely agrees on anything, there is finally an issue that everyone seems to agree on (other than TTU and the Attorney General): universities should not field players who have bet on their own team’s games in college athletics,” the Big 12 writes in the filing.

The league is asking a federal judge to grant an injunction to allow it to exercise its “First Amendment” rights to invoke its authority under its bylaws, dismiss Paxton’s claims that any sanction is an antitrust violation and grant it the right to penalize a member school for violating the dormant Commerce Clause, which prevents state governments from enacting laws that impact competition or commence across a variety of states.

Advertisement

“The threat that gambling poses to the integrity of athletic competition has been understood — and has been borne out by scandal — for over a century,” the complaint reads. “That history informs the Conference’s values and governance practices and explains why these values are non-negotiable.”

Advertisement

The complaint lists as defendants Paxton, Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University System, chancellor Brandon Creighton, president Lawrence Schovanec and athletic director Kirby Hocutt.

When reached on Monday, Big 12 officials declined to comment on the filing.

The Sorsby case has gripped college athletics.

Advertisement

A Texas court judge’s decision last Monday to prohibit the NCAA from enforcing its rule to permanently ban Sorsby from playing college football sent shockwaves through the college community, with one Big 12 athletic director even calling it “total f***ing bulls***” and at least two schools boycotting playing Tech in future competitions.

Advertisement

The NCAA denied Sorsby’s request to have his eligibility reinstated after he acknowledged wagering on his own team. In all, Sorsby acknowledged to making at least $90,000 from thousands of impermissible wagers during his college career, which spanned from Indiana to Cincinnati to, now, Texas Tech, which signed him to a one-year contract believed to be worth at least $4 million annually.

Advertisement

Even after enrolling at Tech, Sorsby admitted to sending about $5,000 to another person to place bets on his behalf. Upon the NCAA starting an investigation into the quarterback this spring, Sorsby enrolled in treatment for sports gambling addiction and anxiety.

After news emerged that the Big 12 was considering sanctioning Tech, Paxton’s office sent a letter to the league Thursday.

“The Big 12 is concerned with TTU’s stated plans — communicated by TTU to the Conference and now backed by independent threats from the Attorney General — to field a student-athlete in Conference competitions despite admitted wagering conduct that is both illegal and in direct conflict with the ethical standards and public trust on which Big 12 competition depends,” the complaint says.

Advertisement

“The Big 12 and its Member Institutions (apparently save TTU) have no interest in being required to endorse or even appearing to endorse unethical and indeed unlawful conduct that strikes at the heart of athletic integrity,” the suit reads.



Source link

Texas

A mother says she needs justice after her 18-year-old son was killed

Published

on

A mother says she needs justice after her 18-year-old son was killed


A North Texas family is making a desperate plea for information after an 18-year-old was gunned down in Dallas overnight.

“I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. Every story that I hear what they did to him, it’s horrible,” said Araceli Rodriguez.

Rodriguez and her older son, Jaden Hernandez, say Isaiah left their Fort Worth home yesterday with a new friend. He was headed to a party in Pleasant Grove.

“He would protect everyone,” said Hernandez.

Advertisement

Just before 2 a.m., Dallas Police responded to the home on Masters Drive.

They told Rodriguez that Isaiah was shot multiple times.

He died at Baylor before she arrived.

“I need justice for my son. I need justice. I need to find some kind of closure,” she said.

Police haven’t announced any arrests.

Advertisement

Rodriguez urges those with information to come forward.

It’s not the first time her family’s been rocked by gunfire.

Jaden lost his vision in a shooting in 2024.

“I just hope and pray and wish that these kids find a different way to resolve their issues,” said Rodriguez.

She hopes Isaiah’s story convinces others to put the guns down.

Advertisement

“I want other people to take something from this. I want them to watch who they’re around, watch who their true friends are and just be safe. This is the hardest thing for a parent to go through,” said Rodriguez.

Anyone with information is asked to call Dallas Police.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Texas

3 Texas hospitals receive $2.5M in grants for mobile stroke units

Published

on

3 Texas hospitals receive .5M in grants for mobile stroke units


AUSTIN (KXAN) — Three hospitals in Texas received a combined $2.5 million in grant funding toward mobile stroke units aimed at increasing access to stroke care.

A stroke occurs when blood flow to an area of the brain is blocked or reduced.

According to the governor’s office, mobile stroke units were ambulances equipped with CT scanners to help identify strokes and begin treatment faster.

“Timely stroke care can make a life-changing difference for Texans and their families,” HHS Executive Commissioner Stephanie Muth said.

Advertisement

Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas at Austin received $1.25 million to establish a new mobile stroke unit.

To expand their existing mobile stroke units, University Medical Center of El Paso was given $500,000, and Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston received $750,000.

“Texas will ensure Texans across our state can access swift and practical medical care,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott. “This $2.5 million investment into mobile stroke units will enable hospitals to better provide vital care without delay in the event of a stroke. I thank HHSC for their ongoing efforts to support our hospitals and the health of all Texans, no matter where they are.”

Another $2.5 million is expected to be distributed to other hospitals in 2027, according to the governor’s office.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Texas

Joey Volchko spins complete-game gem in 7-1 Georgia win over Texas

Published

on

Joey Volchko spins complete-game gem in 7-1 Georgia win over Texas


Any hopes the Texas Longhorns had of contending in the College World Series took a massive blow on Saturday at Charles Schwab Field in a 7-1 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs as right-hander Joey Volchko delivered the best outing of his career, striking out a career-high 15 batters in a complete game for the first Bulldogs win in Omaha since 2008.

Volchko took control early by striking out the first three batters he faced and never faltered, pouring in strikes early in the count and missing bats with the glove-side run on his four-seam fastball and electric slider. Of the 114 pitches thrown by the Stanford transfer, 84 went for strikes as Texas only managed four hits, two by sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez, who scored the only run for the Horns in the fifth inning. Volchko’s ability to fill up the strike zone resulted in Texas only drawing one walk.

The Horns went 1-for-9 (.111) with runners on and 1-for-5 (.200) with runners in scoring position as only one player in the starting lineup, junior first baseman Ashton Larson, avoided a strikeout. Larson went 0-for-3.

As Volchko worked ahead in count, Texas responded by trying to attack the first pitch, a strategy that worked as poorly as attempting to get deep in at bats. After junior right fielder Aiden Robbins worked a full count against Volchko to start the game before striking out, the Horns didn’t get to a three-ball count again until pinch-hitter Josh Livingston in the eighth inning.

Advertisement

The Bulldogs took advantage of early mistakes by the Longhorns as sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis struggled with his command in the first inning, walking the first batter he faced before giving up a line-drive home run off the foul pole in left field by center fielder Rylan Lujo.

Even as Volantis became more effective, it backfired when junior catcher Carson Tinney airmailed a soft throw on a swinging strikeout that allowed Georgia to put a runner on first with one out after Lujo’s homer. A soft single through the right side of the Texas infield increased the pressure on Volantis, who was able to record the second out before hitting a batter and giving up two unearned runs when Tinney made another mistake on a swinging strikeout, missing his throw to first instead of trying to get the runner out at home.

So the Bulldogs took command of the game after the first inning with the benefit of only one hit as Tinney committed his third and fourth errors of the season in an uncharacteristically shaky performance.

Volantis wasn’t always able to work in the zone over the ensuing innings, hitting two more batters, even though he didn’t allow another hit until the seventh when he gave up an RBI double and a two-run single when Georgia scored three unearned runs thanks to an error by junior third baseman Casey Borba.

If the game wasn’t already out of reach for Texas before the seventh, it certainly was afterwards as the top four batters in the lineup combined to go 0-for-15 with 11 strikeouts, including four by redshirt senior second baseman Temo Becerra.

Advertisement

The Horns also saw junior designated hitter Ethan Mendoza depart in the eighth inning with an injury after hitting a single up the middle.

With the season on the line, Texas faces Alabama on Monday at 1 p.m. Central in an elimination game. The Tide lost to the Sooners 9-0 in the early game on Saturday.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending