The NCAA has denied Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s request to have his athletic eligibility reinstated for the 2026 college football season, sources briefed on the decision confirmed to The Athletic.

The NCAA has deemed Sorsby permanently ineligible, a result of its investigation into Sorsby’s gambling violations, which include bets made on Indiana football in 2022 while Sorsby was a member of the Hoosiers. Texas Tech will appeal the NCAA’s decision, according to a letter by university president Lawrence Schovanec sent to Tech supporters on Tuesday.

According to updated NCAA sports-betting guidelines passed in 2023, permanent eligibility is the punishment for players who bet on games involving their own team.

“Recently, the NCAA issued an initial ruling that Brendan is permanently ineligible to compete,” Schovanec’s letter reads. “Texas Tech will be appealing that decision. We believe that given the facts and the context of Brendan’s case, the NCAA’s ruling should be reversed or modified.”

Last week, Sorsby separately filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking a temporary injunction that would grant the fifth-year senior eligibility for the 2026 season, which would be his last year of college football. An injunction hearing has been set for June 1 in Lubbock County (Texas) district court. Texas Tech is not involved in the lawsuit.

Sorsby, 22, completed an “intensive inpatient treatment program” last week for a gambling disorder, in what Schovanec’s letter describes as “a meaningful step forward in what will be a long recovery.

“This week, we will welcome Brendan back to campus,” the letter reads.

Sorsby and Texas Tech announced on April 27 that the fifth-year senior quarterback would take an “immediate indefinite leave of absence” from the Red Raiders to enter treatment, on the same day news broke that Sorsby was under NCAA investigation for gambling.

“Brendan himself has been open about his struggle with severe gambling addiction, and we believe his vulnerability deserves to be met with the full weight of this institution’s support,” Schovanec’s letter reads.

The letter details an ongoing treatment plan for Sorsby as he returns to campus, including “outpatient clinical care; participation in group and individual therapy; mentor resources; treatment for his related anxiety disorder; active monitoring of his technological devices; installation of software to block betting sites from his devices; the appointment of a custodian to oversee his personal finances; and periodic compliance checks.

“This is not a symbolic commitment,” the letter states. “Each element reflects our conviction, and Brendan’s, that nothing matters more right now than his continued recovery.”

This story will be updated.