According to court filings, Georgia football recruiting personnel drove drunk

According to court documents filed Thursday by attorneys representing a former staffer who was seriously injured in a January 2023 car wreck that killed a Bulldogs player and another staff member, football recruiting staffers at the University of Georgia routinely drove rented vehicles after consuming alcohol.

The attorneys also claimed that UGA assistant football coaches used cash to pay for recruiting expenditures during unofficial recruiting visits, which might be a violation of NCAA rules, in an additional lawsuit filed in state court in Gwinnett County, Georgia.

In July, Victoria Bowles, who survived the Jan. 15, 2023 car crash that killed Bulldogs offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staff member Chandler LeCroy, sued the University of Georgia Athletic Association, former Georgia athlete Jalen Carter, LeCroy’s estate, and others for damages.

According to police, LeCroy and Carter, who is now a rookie with the Philadelphia Eagles, were racing when LeCroy’s SUV left the road and smashed into a utility pole and trees. According to the lawsuit, LeCroy’s SUV was traveling at least 104.2 mph at the time of the incident and had been racing another SUV driven by Carter for 45 seconds or fewer. According to police, LeCroy’s blood alcohol concentration was.197, which is approximately 212 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 interest in court,” a university official said Thursday in a statement.

The University of Georgia Athletic Association previously stated that LeCroy did not have clearance to drive the rental SUV for personal reasons.

“The UGA Athletic Association denies that Ms. LeCroy had permission to drive the subject SUV (in its words) ‘to downtown Athens for a night of drinking and partying,'” according to the amended complaint. “While this language is inflammatory as to what occurred the night of the crash, text messages provide evidence that football staffers, with the Association’s knowledge, regularly drove recruits and their guests after consuming alcohol at Athens’ restaurants and bars.”

In its updated lawsuit, the complainant claimed that “text messages show that on occasion supervisors and coaches, in effect, encouraged recruiting staff to drink alcohol with football prospects’ families-well aware that staffers would leave the events after consuming alcohol.”

“Association coaches and staff regularly drank alcohol at UGA football Coach Kirby Smart’s residence during recruiting events, and then, in Association SUVs, returned recruits’ families and guests back to their lodging,” according to the report. “The Association and UGA coaches were well aware that involved alcohol, in Association SUVs.”

The updated complaint included a text message supposedly sent to 13 staff members on December 14, 2019, by then-UGA director of player personnel Marshall Malchow, which said: “Hey guys… if you’re driving you can have fun at Coach Smarts but if you’re driving a recruit make sure you don’t get drunk.” It will be unprofessional if those who are supposed to be driving recruits get high.”

Another athletic association staffer texted recruiting staff members on Feb. 22, 2022, that an assistant athletic director directed them to convert a downtown Athens restaurant “into a bar with [recruits’] families and don’t leave.”

“My client’s iPhone survived the crash fully intact and contains thousands of pages of recruiting texts describing the inner workings of UGA’s recruiting activities,” Bowles’ attorney, Rob Buck, told ESPN. “The new texts in the Amended Complaint establish that the Association was fully aware that recruiting staffers were regularly permitted to drive recruits and their families around Athens after drinking alcohol at Association-sponsored events.” Some texts even reveal that football coaches and recruiting managers urged staffers to drink with football hopefuls’ families.

“The texts run counter to the Association’s pleas and public statements to its fan base.” The texts show that the Association knowingly authorized football staffers to drive Association SUVs while intoxicated, despite UGA policy to the contrary.”

According to the updated complaint, Bowles is also aware of UGA football coaches utilizing cash in recruiting operations including unofficial visits. NCAA rules prohibit coaches and staff personnel from paying for recruits’ and their families’ unofficial visit expenses, including as housing, food, entertainment, and travel.

Bowles’ first lawsuit stated that Bulldogs assistant coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe urged her to use his ATM card to collect $1,000 in cash at a recruiting dinner on Jan. 14, 2023, during an unofficial recruiting tour. Because the ATM card did not function, she drove home to acquire money. According to the complaint, Uzo-Diribe reimbursed her via Venmo. In a prior statement, the athletic association stated that it assumed the money was for Uzo-Diribe’s personal use.

Carter is accused of illegally fleeing the scene without speaking to law officials and failing to render aid, according to the lawsuit. Carter pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing on March 16. He was sentenced to 12 months probation, a $1,000 fine, and 80 hours of community service, as well as participation in a state-approved defensive driving course.

Bowles’ attorneys claim she has spent more than $170,000 on medical bills and has suffered “likely permanent disability.” Her injuries include three lumbar fractures, five fractured vertebrae, ten broken ribs, a broken clavicle, fractured and cracked teeth, kidney and liver lacerations, a punctured and collapsed lung, and abdominal hemorrhage, according to the lawsuit.

Bowles also sustained a closed head injury, which caused neurological impairment, acute eye pain, and considerable damage to the membrane that protects her spinal cord’s nerves, which can lead to permanent paralysis, according to the lawsuit.