Texas Tech adds fifth-year transfer QB in wake of Brendan Sorsby gambling scandal

Thomas Castellanos is headed to Texas Tech after a ruling last week allowed the former Boston College and Florida State quarterback to enter the transfer portal to play a fifth season. Castellanos’ move to Lubbock, Texas, to join the Red Raiders, which was reported Wednesday by On3, will help fill a hole left for Texas Tech after Brendan Sorsby went into treatment for gambling addiction and later left the program. Junior Will Hammond is expected to be tapped as the starter for the Red Raiders after coming off a season in which he started twice and dealt with an ACL injury.That would mean Castellanos would begin as Hammond’s backup. Castellanos has 38 games under his belt between time at UCF, Boston College and Florida State, throwing for 6,449 yards and 48 touchdowns with 28 interceptions.

He has also rushed for 1,984 yards and 24 scores. The dual-threat quarterback is one of the latest athletes to benefit from court rulings challenging the NCAA’s eligibility rules, which recently changed to allow athletes five seasons of eligibility over five years beginning no later than 19 years old. That rule hasn’t been applied to athletes retroactively who entered college in 2022 and had already played four seasons under the previous eligibility rules, leading to several legal challenges in state courts across the country....