University of Georgia football recruiting staff routinely drove rental vehicles after consuming alcohol, according to court documents filed Thursday by attorneys representing a former employee who was seriously injured in a January 2023 car crash that killed a Bulldogs player and another staff member.
In an amended complaint filed in Gwinnett County, Georgia, state court, attorneys also alleged that UGA football assistant coaches used cash to pay recruiting expenses during unofficial recruiting visits, which could be a violation of NCAA rules.
Victoria Bowles, who survived the car crash that killed Bulldogs offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staff member Chandler LeCroy on Jan. 15, 2023, sued the University of Georgia Athletic Association, al former Georgia player Jalen Carter, to LeCroy's estate and others for damages in July. .
Police alleged that LeCroy and Carter, now a rookie with the Philadelphia Eagles, were running when the pickup truck driven by LeCroy left the road and crashed into a utility pole and trees. The lawsuit said LeCroy's SUV was traveling at least 104.2 mph when it crashed and had been racing another SUV driven by Carter for 45 seconds or less. Police said LeCroy's blood alcohol concentration was .197, nearly two and a half times the legal limit in Georgia.
“We are reviewing the amended complaint, but we dispute its claims and will vigorously defend the Athletic Association's interests in court,” a university spokesperson said in a statement Thursday.
The UGA Athletic Association previously said LeCroy did not have permission to drive the rented SUV for personal use.
“The UGA Athletic Association denies that Ms. LeCroy had permission to drive the SUV in question (in her words) 'to downtown Athens for a night of drinking and partying,'” the amended complaint says. “While this language is inflammatory about what occurred the night of the accident, the text messages provide evidence that football staff, with the knowledge of the Association, regularly drove recruits and their guests after consuming alcohol in restaurants and bars in Athens.
The amended complaint alleged that “text messages show that at times supervisors and coaches did, in fact, encourage recruiting staff to drink alcohol with the families of football prospects, aware that the employees would leave the events after to drink alcohol”.
“Association coaches and staff regularly drank alcohol at UGA football coach Kirby Smart's residence during recruiting events, and then, in Association vans, returned to the families and guests of the Association. recruits to their quarters,” the complaint says. “The Association and UGA coaches were well aware that there was alcohol in the Association's sports vehicles.”
The amended complaint included a Dec. 14, 2019, text message allegedly sent to 13 staff members by then-UGA director of player personnel Marshall Malchow that read, “Hey guys…if you drive, you can have fun.” in Coach Smarts, but “If you drive a recruit, make sure you don't get drunk. “It's going to look bad if we have people who are supposed to lead recruits lighting up.”
In a text message dated February 22, 2022, another sports association employee told recruiting staff members that an associate sports director said a downtown Athens restaurant should be converted “into a bar with [recruits’] families and don't leave.”
“My client's iPhone survived the accident completely intact and contains thousands of pages of recruiting texts describing the inner workings of UGA's recruiting activities,” Bowles' attorney, Rob Buck, said in a statement to ESPN. “The new texts included in the Amended Complaint establish that the Association was fully aware that recruiting staff were regularly allowed to drive recruits and their families around Athens after drinking alcohol at Association-sponsored events. Some texts even show that football coaches and recruiting supervisors, in effect, encouraged staff to drink with the families of football prospects.
“The texts contradict the Association's allegations and public statements to its fan base. The texts document that the Association knowingly allowed football personnel to drive Association sport utility vehicles while drinking, even though UGA had policies stating otherwise”.
The amended complaint also alleges that Bowles has knowledge that UGA football coaches use cash in recruiting activities involving unofficial visits. NCAA rules prohibit coaches and staff members from paying expenses for recruits and their families during unofficial visits, including lodging, meals, entertainment and travel costs.
Bowles' original complaint said Bulldogs assistant coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe asked him to use her ATM card to obtain $1,000 in cash at a recruiting dinner during an unofficial recruiting visit on Jan. 14, 2023. The ATM card didn't work, so he drove home to get money. The complaint said Uzo-Diribe returned the money through Venmo. The athletic association previously said in a statement that it assumed the money was for Uzo-Diribe's personal use.
The lawsuit accuses Carter of unlawfully leaving the scene without speaking to authorities and failing to render aid. Carter pleaded no contest March 16 to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation, a $1,000 fine and 80 hours of community service and will attend a state-approved defensive driving course.
According to Bowles' attorneys, she has incurred more than $170,000 in medical expenses and suffered “likely permanent disability.” Her injuries included in the lawsuit include three lumbar fractures, five fractured vertebrae, 10 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, fractured and cracked teeth, kidney and liver lacerations, a punctured and collapsed lung and abdominal bleeding.
The lawsuit says Bowles also suffered a closed head injury that caused neurological damage, severe eye pain and, according to his neurosurgeon, significant damage to the membrane surrounding the nerves in his spinal cord, which can progress to permanent paralysis.
