PROVO, Utah-Monday, the office of the Utah Attorney General showed its support for BYU, Utah and the Big 12 in its lawsuit against Texas Tech and the Texas Attorney General for the Lubbock, Texas-based insitution’s intention to play quarterback Brendan Sorsby who has been found guilty of gambling on contests in which he has played at previous stops at Indiana and Cincinnati.
BYU, Utah and Texas Tech, among other schools belong to the Irving, Texas-based conference.
In a statement bearing the seal of Attorney General of Utah Derek E. Brown and Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox to Big 12 commssioner Brent Yormark and Dr. Douglas A. Girod, the chairman of the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors, it is declared that what happens next matters to BYU, Utah and all the other Big 12 schools and that this affects “honest athletes” competing in the conference.
The statement continued by asserting that the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated the Big 12 would violate federal and state antitrust laws by penalizing Texas Tech if the university fails to take “appropriate action” in regard to Sorsby for his “egregious and admitted misconduct.”
This statement calls Paxton’s assertion “incorrect.”
Brown and Cox concurred, the statement continues, that Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s statement, sent June 12, was correct in his assertion and that they wrote separately to reinforce his analysis and to further add the perspective that the state of Utah does not condone athletes betting on competitions “for which they have skin in the game.”
The statement concluded with Brown and Cox declaring they are “heartened” in seeing the Big 12 “filed legal action to confirm its legal rights earlier this morning.”
Brown and Cox stated they supported the litigation and comparable efforts to this effect.
Later Monday evening, Texas Tech conducted a team meeting wherein it was determined that Sorsby and the Red Raiders would mutually part ways. Sorsby can next enter the NFL Supplmental Draft if he so chooses with a deadline of Monday June 22. The NFL has yet to determine if he will be welcomed into the league because of his previous missteps.
