Mike Hollins returns for Virginia five months after surviving shooting that killed three teammates
Mike Hollins returns to Virginia five months after surviving a shooting that killed three teammates – and pays emotional tribute after scoring a touchdown in the spring game
- Three teammates were killed in the November shooting that injured Mike Hollins
- The running back has returned emotionally to Virginia in a spring game
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Virginia running back Mike Hollins entered the Cavaliers’ spring game on Saturday and scored a touchdown five months after surviving a shooting that killed three teammates.
The fifth-year senior served as one of the blue team’s captains, rushing for 7 yards on the first play of the game in Charlottesville, Virginia. Hollins scored a one-yard touchdown in the game, putting the ball over D’Sean. Perry’s name – who was killed in the shooting – in tribute.
He later posted a brief thank-you message on Cavaliers’ Twitter, saying, “How are you, Mike Hollins. It’s great to be back, a blessing. I want to thank all the fans for coming. go hoos’
On November 13, Hollins was one of four players shot on a charter bus after returning to campus from a field trip to Washington, D.C.
Hollins was shot in the back and spent a week in the hospital, including some time on a ventilator.
Mike Hollins survived a November shooting that killed three Virginia teammates
Teammates Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and Perry did not survive. Another student, Marlee Morgan, survived a gunshot wound.
Hollins scored a one-yard touchdown in the game on Saturday, placing the ball over Perry’s name in tribute.
A former Virginia player, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., was charged with three counts of manslaughter.
Hollins rushed for 540 yards and seven touchdowns and added 24 catches for 197 yards in 30 career games with the Cavaliers.
He said he never considered leaving the team in the aftermath of the shooting.
“I could have left, I could have switched, but I see that as sweeping things under the carpet and not handling the situation as best I can,” Hollins said last month.
“The best place for me to move forward — not further, but forward — is in Charlottesville, with the people who shared that experience with me.
“No one in the entire country feels the way we feel here in the facility. No one in the country knows how I feel about the situation except the people here in this facility, and I felt uneasy just thinking about leaving.
“I’m glad I stayed because the support is what I need now to get through it.”
Virginia opens the 2023 season on September 2 against Tennessee in Nashville.
Hollins, a running back, pictured in action for the Cavaliers before last year’s shooting