Cincinnati on Wednesday responded to the agent of quarterback Brendan Sorsby publicly questioning the school's handling of his gambling in 2024, saying it never would knowingly play an athlete who violated NCAA gambling rules.
Ron Slavin, Sorsby's agent, told Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan earlier Wednesday that Cincinnati should be "questioned or catching heat" because the school knew of Sorsby's gambling for two years and "never said anything."
Sorsby played at Cincinnati for two seasons, beginning in 2024. On Aug. 19, 2024, Cincinnati was alerted to Sorsby's activity on daily fantasy site PrizePicks, according to court documents. The school questioned Sorsby after receiving the alert and was told by the quarterback that he was denied access to the site and had not placed any wagers, according to the documents. Sorsby also received sports wagering education and the matter was closed, according to the documents.
"We will reiterate what we have said before," Cincinnati said in a statement. "All of our student-athletes receive extensive gambling education multiple times throughout the year, and we would never knowingly play an athlete who violated NCAA sports wagering regulations. If we ever became aware of impermissible wagering, we would report to the NCAA and comply with sanctions."
Cincinnati uses a technology called Prohibet to monitor for impermissible betting by student-athletes, coaches and other prohibited personnel. In responding to a public records request by ESPN, Cincinnati said it had received Prohibet alerts on six active student-athletes between January 2024 and February 2026. None of the six active student athletes was the subject of more than one alert, and none of the alerts was triggered for impermissible wagering. Student-athletes are prohibited from placing bets, including on fantasy sites, involving any NCAA-sanctioned sports.
Cincinnati is suing Sorsby for breach of contract after he transferred to Texas Tech this offseason. The school says it suffered damages of more than $1 million from Sorsby transferring.
Sorsby has admitted to placing more than 9,000 bets over the past four years, including some on Indiana when he was a reserve for the Hoosiers in 2022 and 2023. Sorsby did not play in any of the games on which he bet, and there has not been any evidence that he manipulated his performance, used inside information to make his wagers or knowingly provided privileged information to bettors, according to court documents.
On Monday, Texas Tech announced that Sorsby was leaving the team, and a source told ESPN's Pete Thamel that the QB officially has applied for the NFL supplemental draft.