Virginia football players with expiring eligibility will be granted an extra year by the NCAA in the wake of a shooting that killed Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry last month.
Virginia confirmed to ESPN that it initiated and submitted the request to the NCAA.
The decision affects only a handful of players who were in their final season of eligibility in 2022. Two of those players — receivers Billy Kemp IV and Keytaon Thompson — have already declared for the NFL draft. Anthony Johnson, a first-team All-ACC cornerback, just completed his sixth season and accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl.
Virginia canceled its final two games after the shooting, which also left running back Mike Hollins and student Marlee Morgan injured.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a UVA student and former member of the football team who was on the trip, has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Prosecutors have also charged him with two counts of malicious wounding and additional gun-related charges related to shooting Hollins and Morgan. He is being held without bail in a Charlottesville jail. There is a case status hearing scheduled for Thursday.