Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is trying to do what no other college athlete has done: Force the NCAA to stand down on enforcing its sacrosanct policy that permanently bans athletes who have wagered on their own team. "It would be unprecedented," said Jodi Balsam, a former arbitrator of NCAA infractions cases who is director of the Sports Law Clinic at Brooklyn Law School. "They have never excused betting on ones own sport or team and it routinely has been met with the harshest of penalties." Texas Tech said Monday it had declared Sorsby ineligible after it finalized an agreed-upon stipulation of facts between the school, the NCAA and Sorsby. A school is required to declare an athlete ineligible before it can initiate the reinstatement process. On the same day, Sorsby filed a lawsuit in Lubbock County, Texas, alleging the NCAA was slow-walking his case and asking for an injunction allowing him to play for the Red Raiders this season after he was one of the biggest transfers of the offseason. Balsam said the claim of stalling is likely baseless since the NCAA had not received a reinstatement request as of Monday. Sorsby has acknowledged wagering on sports, including on his own team his freshman season at Indiana in 2022. His school said he entered residential treatment for a gambling addiction three weeks ago. History on NCAA's side Balsam said courts historically have sided with sports governing bodies when it comes to administering rules concerning gambling and integrity of the game. "I see the NCAA fighting this one. I dont see them settling," she said. "I do believe this is within their core legal authority." Sorsby is the highest-profile college football player to face permanent suspension for gambling since Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers three years ago. Dekkers was found to have wagered on a 2021 Cyclones game in which he didn't play. Iowa State filed two appeals with the NCAA to have Dekkers' eligibility reinstated and was denied each time, a school spokesman said. Dekkers sat out 2023, played at a junior college in 2024 and signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2025. He was released in January and is the starter for the Houston Gamblers of the UFL this spring. Sorsby's options At stake for Sorsby is the multimillion-dollar deal he signed with Texas Tech for what was supposed to be his final season of college football. Sorsby alleges the NCAA abandoned "its obligations and duties to promote" his well-being and that the lawsuit was filed to expedite the reinstatement process. Sorsby is seeking a hearing for a temporary injunction by June 15, one week before the deadline to file paperwork for the NFL's supplemental draft. Balsam served from 2019-24 on the NCAAs since-dissolved Independent Resolution Panel, which adjudicated and administered penalties in select Division I infractions cases. She said the NCAA would create a "real slippery slope" if it didn't make Sorsby permanently ineligible. "To exonerate entirely somebody who has admitted violating this core policy is to open the floodgates for anybody who is ever engaged in gambling that violates the policy and tries to defend, justify or rationalize their behavior," she said. In the lawsuit, Sorsby acknowledged that in his first year at Indiana, he wagered between $5 and $50 on the Hoosiers football team to win and made prop bets on teammates to exceed statistical predictions. He said he did not bet on the one game in which he played. Sorsby said he never bet on a game involving Cincinnati after he transferred there in 2024, but he continued to be out of control, even placing wagers on Turkish basketball and Romanian soccer games. Sorsby contends there is hypocrisy in the NCAA's harsh discipline for gambling violations at a time it has a partnership with Genius Sports, the exclusive distributor of official NCAA data feeds to authorized sportsbooks. "Maybe that will invite some skepticism by courts," Balsam said, "but ultimately ... sports gambling bans have always been considered essential to the public trust in the game." Judge recuses himself Balsam said there was "perhaps a little bit of forum shopping" with Sorsby's lawsuit filed in Lubbock, home to Texas Tech, reflecting a trend of eligibility cases being heard in state courts. The judge initially assigned to the case, Phillip Hays, grew up in Lubbock and earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Texas Tech. Hays recused himself with no explanation in a court filing Wednesday, Bloomberg reported, and the administrative judge who will pick Hays' replacement has no ties to the school. Balsam said it's conceivable a judge would grant Sorsby a temporary injunction but only to make the NCAA set a clear timetable for processing Sorsby's request so he isn't in jeopardy of missing the supplemental draft. "Id be floored if a court said at the end of the day, after a hearing on the merits, that the NCAA could not enforce its gambling policy," Balsam said. Reporting by the Associated Press

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If I put LeBron James in quotes, at least half of you can hear the meme Im referencing. The King is The King for a reason, after all.But with the NBAs Conference Finals featuring a new generation of stars, and superstars, were getting an idea of how the Hobby is reacting to the passing of the torch. If the eBay search bar is any indication of whos heating up, whos hot, and who just helped someone retire, there are few players more valuable than the one and only Victor Wembanyama.Fresh off of his 41-point, 24-rebound, 3-block masterpiece in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, a winning performance that handed the Oklahoma City Thunder their first loss of the entire postseason (!), the hobby has responded accordingly to Wembys otherworldlyness: On May 18, Victor Wembanyama was searched for more than 5,300 times per hour on eBay.While the Alien is leading the charge, hes somehow not the most-searched player on eBay this postseason. Take a look at the data provided by eBay below:The Playoff Search LeaderboardFrom the start of the NBA Playoffs (April 18) through May 17, the top-five most-searched NBA players on eBay are:Cooper Flagg: This years #1 draft pickwhose Dallas Mavericks havent played a single playoff game this season after finishing with just 26 wins. Thats what winning ROY will do for you.Victor Wembanyama: Hes got next, and all 29 other teams should be terrified.LeBron James: The Lakers run ended early, thanks in part to Luka Doncics injury, but The Kings gravitational pull on the hobby did not.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: The reigning, and now back-to-back, MVP, who just put up a real stinker in Game 1 against Wemby, and will be looking for redemption in Game 2.Anthony Edwards: The Ant-Man might notve been able to get it done against the Spurs, but his playoff performances further bolstered Minnys hope for the future.On the team side, the San Antonio Spurs led the league in eBay searches from May 1-17, with the Detroit Pistons (shoutout Cade and them) and the New York Knicks (my goodness, Brunson) rounding out the top three.The Moments That Moved the MarketSometimes a stat line is louder than a series, and it appears that a few stellar playoff performances sent search bars into orbit:April 25: Ayo Dosunmus 43 off the bench in the Wolves 112-96 Game 4 win over the Nuggets spiked searches for the new Minnesota guard more than 25x the prior weeks daily average, the biggest single-game spike of the postseason.April 30: OG Anunobys 29 points that helped closed the door on the Raptors in Round 1s Game 6 cranked his eBay traffic up 180% vs. the prior week.May 17: Donovan Mitchell dragging the Cavaliers past the #1-seed Pistons and into the Eastern Conference Finals pushed Spidas search rate 80% above his prior-week average.May 17: Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders second straight MVP more than doubled (+100%) his daily search rate vs. the week before, on the same night Wemby led his team to victory over the Thunder.Read the Search BarThe clear takeaway is that the hobby is chasing moments more than anything else. A 40-20 outburst in San Antonio, a closeout-game 29 in Toronto, a 43-bomb off the bench in Denver, every one of them moved the eBay needle. The names that help their teams win in the playoffs win the hobby, and with the NBA Finals just a few weeks away, we could see cards from Wemby, Brunson, Spida, and Shai reach insane new heights.In the meantime, make sure to use Mantels SLAM score to monitor the liquidity of your collection throughout the Playoffs.Who are you buying ahead of the NBA Championship? Let us know on Mantel.

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Inter Miami are reportedly closing in on a sensational deal to bring Casemiro to Major League Soccer following his departure from Manchester United. The legendary Brazilian midfielder has reportedly chosen South Florida as his preferred destination, setting the stage for a mouth-watering reunion with several former rivals and friends in the United States. Inter Miami win the race for Casemiro The Manchester United veteran has made up his mind. After leaving Old Trafford this summer, Casemiro has identified Inter Miami as his next home. The Athletic reports that while several options were on the table, the 34-year-old is determined to move to Vice City. The move would see the Brazilian international join an all-star roster that already includes Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and German Berterame. Despite interest from across the globe, the lure of the ambitious MLS project in Miami has proven too strong for the five-time Champions League winner, who is coming off a resurgent final season in the Premier League. Galaxy frustrated by discovery rights dispute The deal is not without its complications, as the LA Galaxy currently hold the "discovery rights" for the midfielder. Under MLS regulations, the Galaxy have the priority right to negotiate with the player, and the club was hopeful of convincing Casemiro to move to California instead. Reports suggest the Galaxy held numerous conversations with the players representatives and submitted multiple contract offers. This mechanism is designed to prevent MLS teams from driving up prices by bidding against each other for the same international targets. However, Casemiro's insistence on joining Miami has forced a standoff. If a deal is to be finalised, Miami will likely have to compensate the Galaxy, similar to how Los Angeles paid Charlotte FC $400,000 for the rights to sign Marco Reus two seasons ago. Roster gymnastics and the Jordi Alba blueprint One primary hurdle for the Herons is their lack of an open Designated Player (DP) slot. With Messi and others occupying those positions, Casemiros initial salary would need to be under the $2 million threshold for the current season. To bypass this, Miami are expected to follow the blueprint used to sign Jordi Alba in 2023, utilizing Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) before eventually elevating him to DP status. The club would likely structure the agreement with a non-guaranteed option that triggers a pay rise once roster space becomes available. This financial creativity is a hallmark of the Miami front office, which remains desperate to bolster the squad following a tumultuous campaign that saw the departure of head coach Javier Mascherano earlier this season. A decorated legend heads to the World Cup Casemiro will arrive in North America with one of the most decorated CVs in modern football history. During his iconic spell at Real Madrid, he lifted the Champions League trophy five times and secured three La Liga titles. His form has remained high, as he netted nine goals in 33 starts for Manchester United last term, helping them secure a third-place finish and a return to Europe's elite competition. Before he pulls on the pink shirt in Miami, Casemiro has international business to attend to. He has been named to Carlo Ancelottis final Brazil squad for this summer's World Cup, where he will look to add to his 84 caps. Once his duties with the Selecao are complete, the midfielder is expected to join an Inter Miami side currently sitting on 28 points as they look to defend their MLS Cup crown under interim boss Guillermo Hoyos.