UVA Players With Expiring Eligibility Granted Extra Season in Wake of Fatal Shooting
December 7, 2022
Virginia athletic director Carla Williams told Greg Madia of The Daily Progress the NCAA granted the school's submitted request for an extra year for members of the football team who saw their eligibility expire after the 2022 season.
The NCAA granted the request in response to the November 13 shooting that killed wide receivers Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr. and linebacker D'Sean Perry.
Running back Mike Hollins and student Marlee Morgan were also injured in the shooting.
Andrea Adelson of ESPN explained the ruling "only affects a handful of players," and that three of them—wide receivers Billy Kemp IV and Keytaon Thompson and cornerback Anthony Johnson—are headed to the NFL draft.
Virginia, which went 3-7 under first-year head coach Tony Elliott, canceled the season's final two games against Coastal Carolina and rival Virginia Tech following the shooting.
Madia noted the team attended a public memorial service honoring the three players who were killed and then traveled to their funerals instead of playing the final two games of the season.
Adelson noted Virginia student and former football player Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and two counts of malicious wounding and additional gun-related charges in connection with the shooting.
Jones is being held in jail without bail and has a case status hearing Thursday.