Virginia RB Mike Hollins Returns to Practice 4 Months After November Shooting

Four months after being shot on campus, Virginia running back Mike Hollins returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time.

Head coach Tony Elliott spoke to reporters about having Hollins back with the team:

"Just to watch how he's attacked everything, could easily have made excuses, easily have overthought things, but he's taking it upon himself to respond and show perseverance and be resilient. I think a lot of it is for himself, but the majority of it is for his teammates. There was a time when we didn't know if he'd ever have the chance to play to play football again. I'm just grateful to be on the grass, grateful to have an opportunity to be here at the University of Virginia and lead this program, lead these young men, all the guys that decided to come back and pick up the pieces and turn this tragedy into a triumph."

Elliott also said Hollins was a full participant as the Cavaliers opened spring practice.

The shooting occurred on Nov. 13 on a charter bus that was carrying a group of University of Virginia students who traveled to Washington, D.C. to see a play about Emmett Till.

Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a student who was sitting in the back of the bus, opened fire as his classmates were preparing to get off the bus, per authorities and witnesses (h/t Justin Jouvenal and Lisa Grace Lednicer of the Washington Post).

Devin Chandler, D'Sean Perry and Lavel Davis Jr., all members of the Virginia football team, were killed in the shooting. Hollins' mother, Brenda Hollins, told ESPN's Mark Schlabach her son initially fled the bus before going back to try to help others.

"The only thing he remembers is he tried to turn, but he saw him lift the gun," Brenda said about the shooting. "He felt his back get hot and he ran."

Schlabach noted Hollins stopped in the parking garage to hide when a medical student who was also on the bus showed up to help him until emergency personnel arrived.

Fellow UVA student Marlee Morgan also survived after being shot.

Jones has been charged with three felony counts of second-degree murder, two felony counts of malicious wounding, and five felony counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Sydney Shuler of the Daily Progress noted Jones has two preliminary hearings at Albemarle District Court scheduled for March 30.

Hollins will be a fifth-year senior next season. He has appeared in 31 games for the Cavaliers over the past four seasons and was named to the All-ACC Academic Team in 2022.