Jim Leonhard recalls finding out Devin Chandler was involved in Virginia shooting

The impact of Sunday’s shooting at the University of Virginia stretched across the country. That includes Madison, Wisconsin, where Devin Chandler started his college career at Wisconsin.

Jim Leonhard was one of his coaches, and he recalled what it was like when the Badgers found out what happened.

Chandler transferred to Virginia over the offseason after starting his career at Wisconsin. That means multiple Badgers players still on the roster played with him. Leonhard said the program found out before the public did and two days after the shooting occurred, the players — understandably — are still trying to process everything.

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“We had a young group that was in the lift when we got the news,” Leonhard said Tuesday. “We reached out, obviously, knowing Devin was there just to make sure and find out and see if he was OK. That’ when we found out that he was not, that he was involved. It just hits you straight in the heart. There’s no way around it. It was tough. Kind of at that time, the older group of players was getting in the building. In most cases, you’re watching them see it and hear it because his name had not come out at that point. We had talked to some of his family and found out the situation, so it had not been reported that he was involved. The majority of the guys in that class and around that class, just very close with Devin.

“The thing that I’ll never forget about him is his smile. He had it on the time, on the field, off the field. To see this group hurting like they were yesterday and even today, there’s a good number of them that are not even close to being over that situation and shouldn’t be. It’s hard. Try to get them to focus for a short burst of time out on that field and in the meeting room, but outside of that, they’re dealing with some really heavy stuff right now.”

More on Devin Chandler’s college career

Chandler played two seasons at Wisconsin in 2020 and 2021 before transferring to Virginia ahead of this season. With the Badgers, he primarily returned kicks but had a role on offense as well. In the first two years of his collegiate career, Chandler returned ten kickoffs for 241 yards, averaging 24.1 yards per return. He also had two receptions for 28 yards and one rushing attempt for 18 yards as a freshman in 2020.

In addition to Chandler, UVA linebacker D’Sean Perry and wide receiver Lavel Davis were also killed in the shooting on Sunday night.

Former UVA football walk-on running back Chris Jones is the believed culprit of the unthinkable act. Police took him into custody Monday.