The NCAA has given University of Virginia football players who are in their final season of eligibility another season after a shooting killed three players last month, The Daily Progress reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, "only a handful" of players are in their final season and two have already declared for the 2023 NFL Draft. However, that didn't stop UVA athletic director Carla Williams from submitting a request to the NCAA.
The decision comes just weeks after three Virginia players were shot and killed on school campus, while two other players were left wounded. Former UVA player Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. has since been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm as part of a felony, in addition to charges stemming from injuries sustained by running back Mike Hollins and student Marlee Morgan. Jones is being held without bail at a jail in Charlottesville.
The three slain student-athletes -- Devin Chandler, D'Sean Perry, and Lavel Davis Jr. -- received posthumous degrees. The players were also remembered at three separate funerals in November.
The funerals for three Virginia football players were to be held in Miami, Virginia Beach, and Charleston — all in a span of five days.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 28, 2022
Patriots owner Robert Kraft loaned UVA his team’s plane so they could all travel to honor their fallen teammates. pic.twitter.com/tH7BBTltS0
Virginia cancelled its last two games of the season in wake of the shooting.
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