NORFOLK, VA. – College football players and coaches sometimes get so focused on winning that they don't always put what happens on the field in its proper perspective – that in the long run, life is far more precious than any football game.
Monday was one of those days when things were put in perspective for Old Dominion coach Ricky Rahne and his players, as well as ODU Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig and men's basketball coach Jeff Jones, by events 144 miles away in Charlottesville.
Late Sunday night, UVA officials say student Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. pulled a gun and opened fire, killing three Cavalier football players – linebacker D'Sean Perry and wide receivers Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler. Jones is a former walk-on football player.
Media reports indicate two other UVA players were hospitalized with injuries.
Rahne opened his weekly press conference by sending "our thoughts and prayers to the UVA football family."
"I know (Virginia head coach Tony) Elliott is a great man and UVA football and all of those young men are lucky to have him leading them right now. This is obviously an incredibly difficult situation.
"College football is still a close-knit fraternity and we played against these guys, had interactions with these players. It's hard for me so I'm sure it's hard for everyone.
"To think that eight short weeks ago we were out there competing against these people and now their future and their lives are gone."
ODU lost at Virginia, 16-14, on a field goal as time expired on Sept. 17.
Perry and Davis played against ODU. Davis, a 6-foot-7 junior wide receiver from Dorchester, South Carolina, caught two passes for 47 yards, including a 30-yard reception on second down with 50 seconds left that helped set up Virginia's game-winning field goal.
"I remember seeing him catch that pass," Selig said. "It's difficult to fathom that no one will see him do that again."
Perry, a 6-3, 230-pound senior from Miami, Florida, had four tackles against ODU while Chandler, a transfer from Wisconsin, had not played this season.
ODU offensive tackle Nick Saldiveri, who almost surely had contact with Perry in the Virginia game, said when he learned about the shootings, "It freaked me out."
"It's terrible, it's awful," he said. "And I'm praying for everyone on that team and their families. It makes me feel a deep sadness for the players and their families."
Selig was shaken by the shooting on two fronts. He worked for 11 years and earned his doctorate at Virginia, but more importantly, his daughter, Julianna, is a first-year student at UVA.
She was on lockdown in her dorm room all night. Wood Selig and his wife, Ellen, were in communication with Julianna until nearly 3 a.m.
"She told me that she remembers two or three nights ago walking around the grounds with her friends thinking how safe she was," Selig said. "That has really been upsetting to her.
"I have no idea what she's thinking and how she's dealing with this because as I told her, we didn't have to deal with shootings when I was in college. They have counselors on campus, and I encouraged her, don't hesitate to go see someone if you feel the need."
He has been in touch with UVA Athletic Director Carla Williams and Dirk Katstra, executive director of Virginia's Athletic Foundation
"I've known Carla Williams for a while," he said. "I can't imagine what she's dealing with. She has a son that is a first-year at UVA and she's the athletic director at UVA. She's having to deal with so many emotions on so many fronts."
Monday night, ODU held a moment of silence in honor of the slain Virginia players before the men's basketball game against Virginia Wesleyan and as the crowd stood in silence, Jones shed tears.
Jones spent two decades at UVA as a player, assistant coach and head coach. Jones was a four-year starter at point guard who played with Ralph Sampson and helped lead the Cavs to a Final Four and an NIT title. He then coached 16 years, eight as an assistant and eight as a head coach.
After the game, Jones didn't say a word about his team's 72-58 victory. Instead, he talked about the senseless deaths of three young men.
"It was difficult to really focus on a game," he said, adding that his children and grandchildren live in the Charlottesville area.
"It's just got to stop," he added about proliferation of shooting deaths nationally. "We can't keep having our young people being killed, being executed. We have to be better than that as a society and a country.
"I'm not offering up any solutions. I'm not pretending that I've got the answers. But we have to do better."
"We have a day those three young men don't have," he added. "I was able to pick up the phone and call my kids today.
"And there are parents who can't do that."
Jones recalls reading about Davis' father, who desperately tried to reach his son after hearing of the shooting, only to get a phone call saying his son was dead.
"Three young men didn't get to wake up today and see their families," he said. "Every little thing that happens in life we need to cherish because nothing's guaranteed. Nothing's promised in today's world."
Monday afternoon, Rahne Tweeted his condolences to the Virginia football program.
His Tweet:
As a coach of 112 young men & a father of 2 more, my heart is broken for the @UVAFootball family and families of the 3 young men whose lives were tragically cut short. As college coaches we help young men prepare for the future, & I'm saddened to see 3 futures needlessly end.
Another Tweet caught Selig's eye – from Alex Inman, with whom Selig worked at Virginia in the 1990s.
Daughter: 4th-year UVA student. Distraught. In 20-person American Studies class with Devin Chandler. 3:30 today, in fact. "Dad, he's awesome. He always walks into class smiling and cracking jokes." She's talking in present tense. What class, you ask? "Non-Violence in America."
ODU's football players are usually off on Mondays, but fortunately, Rahne had previously called a 1 p.m. meeting.
That was important for him, he said, "Because I wanted to put eyes on them and let the guys know that we're here for them if they need to talk."
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: ODU Athletes, Football and Basketball Coaches and Administrators Shaken by Shooting at Virginia
