forums

Brenden Sorsby- The Gambling Addiction

AtlAtty said:
My understanding is that tennis has a great deal of corruption around the issue of gambling. Is that accurate from what you know?
Click to expand...

Very much so, its rampant and the worst part is that its so easy to get away with thought it usually happens at lower tiered events, mostly guys who are barely making any money

TrumpyCane knows of one guy who was traveling with his father, not sure if you're familiar with tennis scoring, but his son would go up 40-0, 40-15 in a game, dad would signal his son to lose a point and they win $100-$300. You play over 100 points a match and it adds up. They did this for about a year, he eventually got caught because officials randomly asked to see the father's laptop at an event and he refused to hand it over. Banned for 10 years and a 50K fine.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
judge smails army said:
I believe it involved Henry Hill and his crew from Goodfellas. Remember reading that in the book, Wiseguy. It was BC players.
Click to expand...


The Boston College point shaving scandal involved Whitey Bulger's gang AND Hendry Hill/Jimmy "the Gent" Burke.

Ya gotta love a good organized crime "joint venture"...
Click to expand...
I attended several parties off San Amaro Drive that were “joint ventures” if ya know what I mean…
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Fair. I disagree, but we shall see. Obviously if this gets deeper, it can change my mind. But if the "worst" thing he did was bet on Indiana in games he didn't play in, and there's zero evidence of him influencing the game (not sure how he would if he didn't play, but that's another discussion), this will be brushed under the rug in the form of "treatment". We'll see.
Click to expand...
I go back and forth on this. I agree with you that what he did doesn’t rise to the threaten the integrity of the game level.

He’s in a similar boat as Calvin Ridley; except, society’s stance has shifted in that seeing Rozier/nba/ncaa, Iowa cases, + other federal indictments of baseball players versus Sorsby’s own misgivings presents an opportunity for leeway.

Pete Thamel said something like there are long odds that he will play this season. Even without knowing how long the school and NCAA have known about this and how they know, my sticking point is what’s the holdup?

Let’s take him at his word. The worst bet we know of and happened in 2022. We know law enforcement in 3 separate states + the federal level do not want to pursue criminal charges. Even without 2022’s IU bet, he broke the rules and has admitted as much.

An investigation may be needed to determine if he is withholding information; however, he has done enough to be suspended for 30-50% of the season; that’s without the IU bet. With it, he qualifies for a full-on year suspension.

We know the NCAA was about to legalize betting on professional leagues for college athletes. Im under the impression that they’ve had innumerable rumblings about athletes doing that and they’ve swept them under the rug while planning to legalize a problem they cannot know stop; call it avoiding the War on Prop Bets.

Back to the investigation, he has already admitted he touched the red line—> even if it was a KD shoe on the 3 point line close call equivalence. Why no enforcement? This isn’t a murder case.

Texas Tech hasn’t barred him from the facilities like Iowa State did to its own qb and players. And again, no criminality involved. The tricky thing is that the bet was made before their new guidelines. However, Deshawn Hanika was allowed to play in the aftermath of his issues at Iowa State.

PT1
 
This staff gets bodied repeatedly national recruits out of high school but they are elite with their portal evals/execution. It was hilarious watching this place melt down when we didn't get Sorsby.
 
Cincy apparently was alerted to this in 2025 by the NCAA. he cant bet on his team during games he was an active member of the football team.

hes ****ed. he also tech broke state laws with those bets in Indiana.
 
cookies said:
I go back and forth on this. I agree with you that what he did doesn’t rise to the threaten the integrity of the game level.

He’s in a similar boat as Calvin Ridley; except, society’s stance has shifted in that seeing Rozier/nba/ncaa, Iowa cases, + other federal indictments of baseball players versus Sorsby’s own misgivings presents an opportunity for leeway.

Pete Thamel said something like there are long odds that he will play this season. Even without knowing how long the school and NCAA have known about this and how they know, my sticking point is what’s the holdup?

Let’s take him at his word. The worst bet we know of and happened in 2022. We know law enforcement in 3 separate states + the federal level do not want to pursue criminal charges. Even without 2022’s IU bet, he broke the rules and has admitted as much.

An investigation may be needed to determine if he is withholding information; however, he has done enough to be suspended for 30-50% of the season; that’s without the IU bet. With it, he qualifies for a full-on year suspension.

We know the NCAA was about to legalize betting on professional leagues for college athletes. Im under the impression that they’ve had innumerable rumblings about athletes doing that and they’ve swept them under the rug while planning to legalize a problem they cannot know stop; call it avoiding the War on Prop Bets.

Back to the investigation, he has already admitted he touched the red line—> even if it was a KD shoe on the 3 point line close call equivalence. Why no enforcement? This isn’t a murder case.

Texas Tech hasn’t barred him from the facilities like Iowa State did to its own qb and players. And again, no criminality involved. The tricky thing is that the bet was made before their new guidelines. However, Deshawn Hanika was allowed to play in the aftermath of his issues at Iowa State.

PT1
Click to expand...
my assumption is TTU hasn't barred him bc theyre waiting on the NCAA to rule on it (this just became public but Cincy was aware of this in 2025 when the NCAA started investigating).

I assume there are probably some clauses in the NIL deal they need to abide by to bar him from TTU. hes left the team indefinitely and likely not going to come back anytime soon.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Fair. I disagree, but we shall see. Obviously if this gets deeper, it can change my mind. But if the "worst" thing he did was bet on Indiana in games he didn't play in, and there's zero evidence of him influencing the game (not sure how he would if he didn't play, but that's another discussion), this will be brushed under the rug in the form of "treatment". We'll see.
Click to expand...

The guy was betting balls and strikes. I seriously doubt that the Indiana game 4 years ago was the most egregious thing he did.
 
Felonious Monk said:
I miss the old days when people had normal addictions.
Click to expand...

People had gambling addictions but there were painpoints to do it. (Bookie, calling in, cash, meeting up with them to exchange).

It's just too **** easy with these apps and its advertised everywhere like its a softdrink so kids aren't taking it serious enough.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Fair. I disagree, but we shall see. Obviously if this gets deeper, it can change my mind. But if the "worst" thing he did was bet on Indiana in games he didn't play in, and there's zero evidence of him influencing the game (not sure how he would if he didn't play, but that's another discussion), this will be brushed under the rug in the form of "treatment". We'll see.
Click to expand...
Pt 2

I feel like you are going to be vindicated. But the rollout of how they go about it is key because most of sports Americana are more prudish than you and me; or even the NCAA’s upper brass.

This is all from the release of new guidelines in 2023:

Wednesday's statement did not address what the NCAA might do with penalties that have already been handed down, but did include a line that stated: "The guidelines potentially could be applied retroactively.”
Click to expand...

One of the players who lost his appeal, Noah Shannon, is now a support staffer at Iowa. I believe Sorsby plays one season with TT; whether that’s in 2027 or 2026 is TBD. I do not suspect he will go straight to the NFL for many reasons; and the wording of TTech focused on his long-term mental health and wellbeing was a tell about how they are thinking. Cynically, it’s almost better for the NCAA to have this perfect cautionary tale that Sorsby will become.

As mentioned in part 1, there was an Iowa State TE who was suspended in 2023 (idk what happened in 2024) however he played every game in 2025 with Kansas.

Ferentz said Shannon, who spent the offseason rehabbing an injury, will be allowed to practice and otherwise be with the team. The suspension prohibits him only from playing in games.
Click to expand...
They let Shannon practice during the appeal period; he was rehabbing. He lost the appeal a month later. The following month, the ncaa released their new guidelines and allowed Shannon to rehab/practice once again; however, he couldn’t play in games.

The Iowa and Iowa State football programs found themselves wracked with controversy before the 2023 season even began, with several players facing NCAA suspensions as the result of the state's investigation into sports gambling among athletes at the schools.

It appears the NCAA is rethinking the wisdom of some of those suspensions.

The NCAA announced Wednesday that its Division I Council will re-examine sports wagering reinstatement guidelines. The organization did not mention the Hawkeyes or Cyclones in a release announcing the considered changes, but did specify commissioners requested a review "after recent outcomes in reinstatement cases — involving wagering violations that have yielded permanent or long-term ineligibility for student-athletes. ..."
Click to expand...
www.hawkcentral.com

Iowa-Iowa State gambling: NCAA considering lesser penalties for betting-related suspensions

The NCAA is considering reducing penalties for players who bet (but not on their own teams). This could have an impact for Iowa and ISU athletes.
www.hawkcentral.com
One of the most impactful suspensions was that of Noah Shannon, the star Iowa defensive end who was suspended for the year and subsequently had his appeal denied. Shannon admitted to betting on another (non-football) team at Iowa.

According to the NCAA's press release, it is looking at a three-strike rule for betting, but only if it is not on the player's own team. If a player bets on their own squad, the punishment will still presumably be an immediate permanent ban
Click to expand...
So why hasn’t he been banned yet? Because the NCAA — despite Sorsby’s stupidity — knows it would be stupidity on their end from both a financial and ethical standpoint to be punitive.
In its release, the NCAA mentioned a three-strike proposal to betting-related suspensions, one that seeks to "prioritize treatment and education over sanctions when integrity of competition is not in question." The proposals, as mentioned, are relevant only for student-athletes who bet on other teams − not their own
Click to expand...
Here is the proposed sequence of punishment, per the NCAA's release:

  • On a first offense, eliminate penalties that result in student-athletes being withheld from competition — regardless of the dollar value of the wagers and including bets placed on other sports at a student-athlete's school — and require education on sports wagering rules and prevention.
  • On a second offense, potentially involve withholding penalties, depending on the dollar value of the bet(s) in question.
  • On a third or subsequent offense, resulting penalty could be a loss of one full season of eligibility.
Click to expand...
The wording of the report about small bets and presumably the lack of disclosure about real, ethically ambiguous bets has me thinking the NCAA is trying to land the plane in a snowstorm; and they just can’t rush to do it.
 
Last edited:
rvalenza said:
College career over. Big flag for NFL teams as well.
Click to expand...
Meh. Not the end of the world. Some teams will question his decision making however most won’t be scared off and the NFL is in short supply of high-end QBs.

He will be allowed to bet on other sports in the NFL; if he chooses todo so.

Calvin Ridley was traded for while he was suspended. He signed a 92 million 4 year contract with the Titans after one year with the Jaguars.

The qb from Iowa and DT from Iowa State both were picked up by the Saints as UDFAs. They just weren’t good enough to make the teams. Hunter Dekkers, The qb from Iowa, was on their practice squad for the whole year and was moved to the team’s active roster on NYE.

Dekkers had criminal charges he had to beat unlike Sorsby; and wasn’t nearly as talented. Ironically he plays for the Houston Gambles in the UFL.
 
cookies said:
Meh. Not the end of the world. Some teams will question his decision making however most won’t be scared off and the NFL is in short supply of high-end QBs.

He will be allowed to bet on other sports in the NFL; if he chooses todo so.

Calvin Ridley was traded for while he was suspended. He signed a 92 million 4 year contract with the Titans after one year with the Jaguars.

The qb from Iowa and DT from Iowa State both were picked up by the Saints as UDFAs. They just weren’t good enough to make the teams. Hunter Dekkers, The qb from Iowa, was on their practice squad for the whole year and was moved to the team’s active roster on NYE.

Dekkers had criminal charges he had to beat unlike Sorsby; and wasn’t nearly as talented. Ironically he plays for the Houston Gambles in the UFL.
Click to expand...
I suppose you're right about the NFL. Talent usually trumps everything.
 
hoops156 said:
Cincy apparently was alerted to this in 2025 by the NCAA. he cant bet on his team during games he was an active member of the football team.

hes ****ed. he also tech broke state laws with those bets in Indiana.
Click to expand...
When in 2025?

And they still sued him for breach of contract in late February ‘26 to try to get some money outta of his transfer like Duke did. Which makes me wonder if they believed he would still be eligible in ‘26.

Law enforcement in Texas, Ohio and Indiana as well as the federal level are not pursuing criminal charges. Even in Iowa, some of the LEO higher ups didn’t want their co-workers involved in going after the football players for underaged gambling—the charge Dekkers pled guilty to and paid a fine of $565 to satisfy his non-prison conviction.
 
hoops156 said:
my assumption is TTU hasn't barred him bc theyre waiting on the NCAA to rule on it (this just became public but Cincy was aware of this in 2025 when the NCAA started investigating).

I assume there are probably some clauses in the NIL deal they need to abide by to bar him from TTU. hes left the team indefinitely and likely not going to come back anytime soon.
Click to expand...
In the Iowa State case, the players were barred from the facilities immediately and the NCAA didn’t rule until August. As mentioned, the NCAA revised their guidelines afterwards because they felt they were too punitive to the players involved.

Noah Shannon (Iowa, not Iowa State) was allowed to practice and be with the team while the case was on appeal as well as before the NCAA made the ruling.
 
Back
Top