An image from Devin Willock's funeral on Jan. 27, 2023. Memorial and funeral service for Devin Willock, 20 years old, at Community Baptist Church in Englewood, N.J. on Friday Jan. 27, 2023. Willock was a University of Georgia football player and Paramus Catholic football star. He died in a car crash in Georgia on January 15, 2023. Devin Willock Syndication The Record
College FootballBy Andrew Bucholtz on

Back in January, Georgia Bulldogs’ defensive lineman Devin Willock was killed in a single-car crash, along with vehicle driver Chandler LeCroy. That death came after the Bulldogs’ celebration of their College Football Playoff title earlier that night, and came with LeCroy (a Bulldogs’ recruiting staffer) reportedly having a blood-alcohol concentration more than two times the legal limit in Georgia, and came with her vehicle reportedly traveling 104 miles per hour while racing a vehicle driven by Bulldogs’ defensive lineman Jalen Carter (who was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the eighth pick of this year’s NFL draft). This week, Willock’s father Dave had his attorneys file notice of intent to sue the university for $2 million, the maximum allowable under Georgia law:

Here’s more on that from that Fox News piece, by Chantz Martin:

Attorneys representing Dave Willock, the father of late Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock, have sent a formal notice to the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents that he plans to seek $2 million in damages, documents showed.

…Dave Willock’s lawyers claim that university officials knew about LeCroy’s driving history. She had previously been cited multiple times for speeding over the past six years.

“To be clear, UGA and [University of Georgia Athletic Association] agents and employees negligently entrusted a vehicle to LeCroy,” the attorneys wrote in the legal notice. “Likewise, UGA and UGAAA agents and employees negligently hired, supervised, trained, and retained LeCroy.”

Georgia’s athletic director has previously stated that LeCroy was not supposed to be driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.

There will likely be more to come here when this lawsuit is officially filed. We’ll see how it proceeds. But it’s the latest development in this long-running saga around Carter and that crash. And while the Bulldogs did honor Willock (an image from his Jan. 27 funeral is seen at top) and LeCroy at their spring game, there may still be further consequences for the school from this.

[Fox News; photo from Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com, via USA Today Sports]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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