Former Georgia football staffer alleges in court filing alcohol use in recruiting activity

Former Georgia football recruiting analyst Victoria 'Tory' Bowles, who sustained serious injuries in a crash nearly a year ago, alleged in a court filing Thursday in Gwinnett County that program staffers regularly drove recruits and guests after drinking alcohol at Athens bars and restaurants.

That conflicts with the UGA Athletic Association contention that recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy was not permitted to drive a rented SUV during a night of drinking and partying after a national championship celebration last year.

LeCroy and football player Devin Willock were killed in an early morning crash on Jan. 15, 2023 after police alleged LeCroy and Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter were racing at more than 100 miles per hour.

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Bowles is suing the UGA Athletic Association and Carter, now an NFL rookie, and others in a civil lawsuit in Gwinnett County state court.

Bowles’ attorney says the crash would have been avoided if not for UGA athletics “negligent entrustment,” of the SUV to Lecroy, who police said drove with more than double the legal blood alcohol level.

The amended complaint said coaches and staff “regularly” drank alcohol at coach Kirby Smart’s house during recruiting events and returned recruits families and guests back to their lodging using school-owned SUVs.

“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,” said Rob Buck, Bowles attorney. “The new texts included in the Amended Complaint establish that the Association was fully aware recruiting staffers 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 staffers to drink with football prospects’ families.

“The texts contradict the Association’s pleadings and public statements to its fan base. The texts document that the Association knowingly allowed football staffers to drive Association SUVs while drinking even if UGA had policies stating otherwise.”

UGA athletics said in a statement: "We are reviewing the amended complaint, but we dispute its claims and will vigorously defend the Athletic Association's interests in court."

Buck said the text messages were from Bowles’ personal phone and the filing shows messages from other staffers.

The Athens Banner-Herald requested in May from UGA cell phone messages from UGA-issued phones for five recruiting staffers from the weekend of the crash. UGA responded in November saying there “are no responsive documents.”

The filing includes a purported text message from then Georgia director of player personnel Marshall Malchow from Dec. 14, 2019: “Hey guys... if you are driving you can have fun at Coach Smarts but if you are driving a recruit make sure you don’t get drunk. It will be a bad look if we have people who are supposed to be driving recruits getting lit.”

It cited a June 8, 2021 text message from recruiting staffer Matt Godwin indicating that then assistant coach Scott Cochran told him to get a Butler University offensive line prospect, “f****d up tonight so gonna head downtown for a celebratory beer if anyone would like to join.”

The complaint also cites text messages to push back on Georgia athletics statement that recruiting vehicles must be turned in after related duties and was not for personal use. It says that those vehicles could be used unrelated to assigned duties often until 11 a.m.

“Neither the UGA Athletic Association nor LeCroy’s supervisors placed any limits or restrictions on her use of the assigned SUV for the day of the Championship Celebration or the morning of January 15, 2023,” the filing says.

Bowles’ attorney says that Georgia athletics allowed LeCroy to drive after knowing about her previous speeding tickets and reckless driving. It called her a “habitually reckless driver,” and cited a 2022 incident when LeCroy drove an UGA athletic golf cart during a “scavenger hunt” recruiting event, crashing into another staffer’s golf cart, throwing LeCroy and a recruit’s mother out of the cart.

The Athens Banner-Herald previously obtained details of the May 21, 2022 incident in the football indoor practice facility via an open records request from LeCroy’s personnel files.

LeCroy was driving a golf cart with a five-star prospect and his mother exiting the facility to the garage door and pulled in front of another driven by a support staff member with another recruit who ended up signing with Georgia. The five-star prospect ended up signing with another SEC school.

Both carts were damaged and undrivable. The recruit and his mother were reported to be fine but LeCroy was described as “distraught from the accident but alert and oriented.”

The latest filing also alleges the use of cash in recruiting activities for unofficil visits.

“Ms. Bowles was aware from her own observations and from prior communications from her superiors of UGA football coaches’ use of cash in recruiting activities involving unofficial visits prior to (Jan. 14) and of a written request prior to that evening from a recruiting supervisor directing staff to “address with every single coach” the need “to get coaches to pay for unofficial visitors,” the filing said.

As previously reported, outside linebackers coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe asked Bowles to obtain $1,000 from an ATM while at Sakura restaurant with football recruits and guests on Jan. 14, 2023.

“Ms. Bowles does not know the actual purpose of the cash requested at Sakura by Coach Uzo-Diribe, but gives Coach Uzo-Diribe the benefit of the doubt of any impropriety,” it says.

Georgia’s compliance director William Lawler emailed Bowles’ attorneys on July 13, according to the filing, saying the school wanted to speak to her since “she may have been involved in or have knowledge of possible NCAA rules violations,” something the school said it was unclear whether that had occurred.

"The complaint alleges the money was for the Coach's personal use, and based on our review, we have no reason to disagree,” UGA athletics said on Aug. 7.

The new filing said “The Complaint actually stated the cash 'was presumably' not for 'recruiting activities.'”

Bowles is seeking from the Athletic Association more than $171,000 in damages including medical expenses and lost wages of at least $8,800.

Bowles was a backseat passenger whose injuries included lumbar fractures, fractured vertebrae, ribs and clavicle and kidney laceration and a punctured and collapsed lung and a closed head injury, the lawsuit says.

Georgia fired Bowles in August for what it says was refusing to allow the school to question her or access her cell phone as part of its investigation, something Buck has called “direct retaliation” for the lawsuit.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Former UGA staffer Tory Bowles makes allegations in court filing