Rick Pitino is pointing the finger at gambling companies for the growing betting issues involving college athletes.
During an appearance on noti.group’s “Schein Time,” the St. John’s basketball coach told host Adam Schien he expects to see more cases like Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who is in the middle of a legal battle over his eligibility after allegedly wagering more than $90,000 over four years while playing college football.
“You’re creating addicts by the way,” Pitino said. “… I can see you becoming a football gambler because of all day long on ESPN, all they’re talking about is the line in gambling and who you’re picking and so on. You’re going to have a lot of athletes that become gamblers because of it.”
Pitino’s comments come one day after a court granted Sorsby a temporary injunction against the NCAA that ruled the governing body could not prohibit the former Cincinnati Bearcat from “practicing, playing, or otherwise participating on Texas Tech’s football team for the 2026 season.”
Sorsby had previously been declared permanently ineligible for gambling for over four years while in college, including 40 bets on Indiana football games while he was a player.
The legendary basketball coach sees firsthand the temptations his athletes deal with on a day-to-day basis.
“You’re going to have some people with addiction, whether it’s alcohol, whether it’s drugs, if you’re constantly showing that,” Pitino said.
Pitino also mentioned that the NCAA threw players for a loop last season by approving a rule allowing them to wager on pro sports.
That rule never took effect, though, after a membership vote reversed it, keeping a blanket ban on any sports betting for college athletes.
Sorsby was diagnosed with a gambling addiction and an anxiety disorder during a 35-day gambling rehabilitation program in Arizona.
In his statement to the NCAA, Sorsby framed his gambling as an addiction fueled by the constant presence of betting apps.
“My betting became a compulsion which made it virtually impossible to resist the constant notifications I received from betting apps,” Sorsby said. “I lost complete control of my addiction. I now realize the apps controlled me and I did not control them.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
