Texas Tech athletics defended its controversial decision to allow quarterback Brendan Sorsby to return to campus in a lengthy video. In a message featuring its president, athletic director and head coach, the athletic department made its case for why they’ve stood by Sorsby despite admitted violations of NCAA gambling rules.

In the video, Texas Tech officials claim that Sorsby returning to campus as a member of the football team will help support his recovery from a clinically diagnosed gambling addiction. 

“We have a long time before we have to think about when he’s going to play football again,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “We have a long time to continue to work with him to help him with this addiction and deal with a lot of different things in his life. Right now, our top priority is getting him back in this environment with his teammates, with people who love and care about him, and then deal with the football.” 

In legal filings, Sorsby admitted to placing several thousand bets over the course of four years, including many on Indiana athletics while he was a redshirting athlete. Placing bets on your own team or athletic department is grounds for permanent loss of eligibility under NCAA rules. 

Sorsby received an injunction from a Lubbock County District Court on Monday that prevents the NCAA from enforcing any punishments while he awaits his full trial in February 2027. The full trial is scheduled for two weeks after the national championship game, when Sorsby’s college career will be over. As part of the injunction, Sorsby will receive a two-game suspension. 

Criticism for Judge Curry’s decision has been swift from all corners of college athletics. Georgia and Nebraska have publicly declared that they will not schedule Texas Tech in any sports heading forward. Big 12 administrators have met to consider sanctioning Texas Tech or Sorsby. On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton informed the Big 12 that any such attempt would be met with legal action by the state. 

Returning to campus

After the NCAA denied Sorsby’s application for reinstatement, Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec penned a lengthy letter expressing his public support for the quarterback. In it, he argued that Texas Tech’s addiction recovery center and campus support would help Sorsby. At the time, there was little guarantee that he would be ruled eligible. 

“Our concern for him was sincere,” Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec said. “We did not know what the outcome [of the hearing] would be. We would not just welcome him back under the expectation that he would necessarily play, we just thought, this is the place for you. Our support for him is unwavering.” 

After a five-week stint at an inpatient recovery center in Arizona, Sorsby returned home to the Dallas area and later returned to Lubbock. He was not present in the courtroom on June 4, when his high-powered attorneys argued for eligibility. 

Texas Tech senior athletic director Grant Stovall outlined some of the key conditions Sorsby was asked to meet when he was brought back to campus. Many of the steps were laid out in the court order released on Monday, including continued individual and group treatments for gambling addiction. 

Additionally, Sorsby will have constant monitoring of his tech devices, including software installed by Texas Tech to block gambling sites. He will also have continuous monitoring of his devices and a custodian to oversee his finances. In the hours after Sorsby’s eligibility was reinstated, he reported to the athletic department’s IT services to have monitoring software installed on his phone. 

Key questions

Texas Tech has stood by Sorsby through the tumultuous past six weeks, even after the NCAA ruled him permanently ineligible. But while officials made a reasonable case for why the school could support him in his recovery, the argument for his return to action is more specious. 

By his own words, Sorsby has a diagnosed anxiety disorder. After the attention surrounding this case, he is now perhaps the most scrutinized player in college football. President Schovanec also noted that part of his return to campus is to help prepare him for his future career endeavors. 

“We are attending first of all to his medically diagnosed condition, and we are prepared to support him as he pursues that career that he’s spent his whole life working towards,” Schovanec said. “That’s what we do at Texas Tech.” 

However, Sorsby would still be able to pursue playing professional football without returning to campus. In fact, he could enter the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft and perhaps even land on a roster this fall. 

Granted, Sorsby has yet to participate in a real practice or play in a game since his reinstatement. As McGuire points out, there are still more than three months until he is eligible to take his first live snap. 

“He can play, is what the judge said,” McGuire said. “What we’re trying to do is get him into a healthy space to where he can feel great about what he’s doing and he can deal with this addiction, and that’s day by day.” 

But with all the money and pressure involved, is there really a choice? 

McGuire told the story of Sorsby’s parents calling him on Monday after the backlash reached fever pitch. They asked whether Texas Tech would be okay. With even Big 12 colleagues irate, it’s a question the athletic department should keep top of mind. 

Captain Son Heung-min is leading the attack for South Korea, while Tomas Soucek would look to organise Czechia from the midfield. Here are the two starting XIs:

SOUTH KOREA XI: Kim Seung-gyu; Seol Young-woo, Kim Min-jae, Lee Gi-Hyuk, Lee Han-beom, Lee Tae-seok; Hwang In-beom, Paik Seung-ho; Lee Kang-in, Lee Jae-sung; Son Heung-min (C)…

CZECHIA XI: Matej Kovar; Vladimir Coufal, Robin Hranac, Stepan Chaloupek, Ladislav Krejci, Jaroslav Zeleny; Tomas Soucek (C), Alexandr Sojka; Pavel Sulc, Lukas Provod, Patrik Schick

It’s a process, folks. Hiring Nolan Teasley always meant embracing some change in the Vikings front office. After some time to acclimate to the Twin Cities, Teasley has begun the changes that were always going to arrive (at least the initial round).

Check out what Alec Lewis (The Athletic) had to say: “The Vikings are making front office changes, per sources. Assistant GM Demitrius Washington is seeking other opportunities. Senior personnel executive Jamaal Stephenson, senior college executive Pat Roberts and pro scout Salli Clavelle won’t return.”

Further from Lewis: “Vikings assistant GM Demitrius Washington — who came from the 49ers, where he was respected as a versatile go-between with coaching/front office — asked and received approval to pursue other opportunities. GM changes typically involve personnel adjustments. That’s the case here.”

Moving on from Washington always made at least some sense. He has a long relationship with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, meaning the subtraction of Adofo-Mensah made things a touch dicey. Washington is a really smart guy; he’s going to land on his feet. San Francisco is the team to watch.

The sense one gets is that Mr. Teasley is inspiring a ton of optimism in the Twin Cities. Admittedly, it’s still the honeymoon stage, but there’s huge belief in him.

Over in Seattle, Teasley began pretty low within the Seattle organization before steadily climbing. His ascent coincided with Seattle being among the preeminent teams in the NFL. Slowly but surely, Teasley’s voice grew more powerful as the Seahawks continued being a very good team.

Most notable, of course, is that the Seahawks are coming off a Super Bowl win. Sam Darnold helped to get them there, leading the team as the QB1. As Darnold did so in the Emerald City, the football folks in the Twin Cities had to adjust to missing the playoffs, mostly due to the terrible play at quarterback.

The Darnold decisions in March of 2025 — Minnesota said goodbye, Seattle said hello — are perhaps the key factors that most impacted Adofo-Mensah being fired and Teasley being hired. The Vikings are now living in the aftermath.

The most recent news coming from Minnesota flows from mandatory minicamp. VT has offered up:

Go ahead and check out some of the recent work that Vikings Territory has had to offer. Do so with the understanding that things are progressing behind the scenes of the organization as the leadership gets reshaped.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Ninja Stadium will play host to Sunday’s
Round 14 AFL game between Richmond Tigers and
Brisbane Lions. The game kicks off at 1:10 pm with Brisbane Lions heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Richmond Tigers vs.
Brisbane Lions
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday June 14, 2026 at 1:10 pm

Where: Ninja Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Richmond Tigers vs Brisbane Lions Odds

Richmond Tigers vs Brisbane Lions Preview

Brisbane heads to Hobart on Sunday aiming to strengthen its top-four push against a Richmond side still searching for answers. The Lions returned to form with an emphatic QClash victory over Gold Coast, highlighted by Logan Morris’ seven-goal haul and another dominant midfield display from Lachie Neale. Richmond, meanwhile, enters the match after a bye that followed a heavy defeat to Sydney. The Tigers have struggled against the competition’s elite sides and now face another stern challenge against a Brisbane outfit boasting one of the most potent attacks in the league. Recent history favours the Lions, who have enjoyed success against Richmond in recent meetings. Anything less than a convincing Brisbane performance would come as a surprise.

Iran’s footballers took to the training pitch in front of journalists Thursday at their base camp in Mexico, giving the world its first glimpse of a team whose participation in the World Cup has been overshadowed by war with the United States.

After having moved their training camp to Tijuana from the planned base in Arizona, the squad has said very little since arriving for the tournament last Sunday.

For Thursday’s training session, journalists were given fifteen minutes to see a small group of players as they ran through warm-up exercises.

Of the 26 members of “Team Melli,” only a dozen players were present, with star striker Mehdi Taremi among those who did not show.

Dressed in green jerseys, the players did some light jogging on the training pitch of the Xolos, Tijuana’s local club.

They then performed stretching and core-strengthening exercises on foam mats.

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Iran is scheduled to play its first match on Monday in Los Angeles against New Zealand.

A team official confirmed to AFP that the squad is set to enter the United States on Sunday and spend the night there ahead of the match.

Last week, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico told journalists the squad would only be allowed into the US on the day of their games and would have to leave straight afterwards.

Iran‘s participation in the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, comes three months after the US and Israel launched attacks on the country of around 93 million people, setting off hostilities that saw a large swathe of the Middle East drawn in, and the global economy shaken.

Thursday’s open practice came as US President Donald Trump announced what he said was a “great settlement” to end the war with Iran, saying he expected a deal to be signed in Europe as soon as this weekend.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Malaysian MMA fighter Jihin Radzuan and Canadian standout Anastasia Nikolakakos will cross paths on the global stage of ONE Championship on Friday, July 17.

The duo lock horns in an atomweight MMA tiff, which will be part of ONE Fight Night 45: Lessei vs. Rabah on Prime Video in the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

ONE Championship confirmed the bout on its official website earlier today.

This American primetime card will mark Jihin Radzuan’s 15th promotional appearance and an opportunity for ‘Shadow Cat’ to register a second straight triumph in ONE Championship.

In her last outing at ONE Fight Night 40 this past February, the Johor Bahru native put an end to her two-match skid, emerging with a pivotal win against undefeated Brazilian fighter Gabriela Fujimoto.

The victory earned the Foxgloves Fight Gym and Fairtex Training Center affiliate an 11th win after back-to-back losses to Macarena Aragon of Argentina and Japan’s Chihiro Sawada.

Before that, the Malaysian warrior racked up an impressive 8-3 slate in the world’s largest martial arts organization, two of her losses coming against eventual ONE women’s atomweight MMA world champions — Stamp Fairtex and Denice Zamboanga.

Her list of victims, meanwhile, includes former ONE world title challenger Mei Yamaguchi, Itsuki Hirata, Jenelyn Olsim, Bi Nguyen, and Jomary Torres.

Jihin brings a dangerous world-class arsenal, and she’s equally good on the canvas and in the striking department. She’s displayed her wide array of weapons in all facets of the discipline, and this trait should be her trump card against someone who moves as efficiently as Nikolakakos.

The undefeated Canadian returns just three months after a successful debut outing in ONE Championship.

At ONE Fight Night 41 this past March, she authored a first-round finish of Victoria Souza inside the Lumpinee Stadium, using her savage hands en route to a ground-and-pound win.

The 36-year-old moved to 6-0 with the win, and it should give her the confidence needed to overcome someone of Jihin Radzuan’s caliber.

Fans can expect an intriguing battle when these two collide in this high-stakes atomweight MMA showdown at ONE Fight Night 45 next month.

Jihin Radzuan vs. Anastasia Nikolakakos and all the fights confirmed for ONE Fight Night 45 so far

Luke Lessei vs. Mohamed Younes Rabah (Muay Thai – featherweight)

Suablack Tor Pran49 vs. Stephen Irvine (Muay Thai – flyweight)

Black Panther vs. Sean Climaco (Muay Thai – flyweight)

Bokang Masunyane vs. Lee Seung Cheol (MMA – strawweight)

Sanzhar Zakirov vs. Ruslan Satiev (MMA – flyweight)

Jihin Radzuan vs. Anastasia Nikolakakos (MMA – atomweight)

Lito Adiwang vs. Joshua Perreira (MMA – flyweight)