Alabama player dismissed from team after bar incident
Alabama sophomore linebacker VanDarius Cowan has been dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules, coach Nick Saban said in a statement via Tidesports.com.
“Each of us has a responsibility to represent The University of Alabama in a first-class way, and failure to meet those standards can’t be tolerated,” Saban said. “We wish VanDarius the very best in the future.”
Cowan was arrested last week following an incident at a Tuscaloosa bar on June 23. He was charged with third-degree assault after allegedly punching another man in the face.
The victim, Jesse Ray, told the Tuscaloosa News that he was entering a bar as Cowan was leaving and said he did nothing to provoke the linebacker.
A surveillance video emerged that seemingly shows Cowan throwing a punch (0:25) at a man at the High Tide Bar.
Cowan was then immediately restrained and ushered out of the bar. Ray said he suffered a broken tooth and nerve damage.
Cowan was working as a third-team linebacker during spring practices. He missed some practices to focus on academics but did play in Alabama’s spring game in April.
In his freshman season last year, Cowan played in seven games off the bench. He recorded the first two tackles of his college career in a November win over Mercer.
Cowan was a highly ranked prospect out of Palm Beach Gardens High School in Florida in the Class of 2017. 247 Sports had him as the No. 4 outside linebacker, and Rivals had him at No. 7.
Many are speculating as to where Cowan will now end up, and Tennessee appears to be the early front-runner.
VanDarius Cowan was a top 100 recruit and the #4 OLB prospect in the nation in 2017. Jeremy Pruitt was his lead recruiter at Alabama
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) July 9, 2018
Jeremy Pruitt was Alabama’s defensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017 before becoming the head coach at Tennessee this year.
Fortunately for Alabama, linebacker is the one position (besides quarterback) that wasn’t hit hard by the NFL draft or graduation.
The Tide will return three starters at linebacker from last year’s defense, which held opponents to a nation-best 11.9 points per game.
Additionally, Alabama has two commits in the Class of 2019 who are nationally ranked in the top seven at their respective positions.
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