By Jerry Ratcliffe
Virginia’s football program was rocked on Thursday when an Albemarle County grand jury indicted 22-year-old wide receiver Jahmal Edrine with a charge of rape and abduction.
After months of investigation by the Albemarle County Police Department, Edrine was taken into custody on Thursday and is being held without bond at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. The investigation, which is ongoing, began on Aug. 25, 2025, after a victim reported being sexually assaulted on Aug. 24.
Edrine was one of UVA’s most reliable receivers this past season, hauling in 46 receptions for 564 yards and a touchdown. Previously, Edrine played at Purdue prior to transferring to Virginia and enrolling last January.
Virginia officials were apparently surprised by the allegations, but said that once the university was notified, Edrine is presently not enrolled as a student.
Certainly, UVA coach Tony Elliott was unaware on Wednesday morning when he met with media to discuss the new recruiting class and the team’s future, which he believed Edrine would make a major impact.
“I think [Edrine’s] ceiling is he can be an NFL guy,” Elliott said. “I think he can play at the next level. I think he’s got the ability to be an all-conference caliber player. Now, I think last year he had a huge challenge because he was a guy that came in that really, really, really had to push it in the classroom because he had a path to graduation, but it was like, okay, there’s a lot of work that has to be done. He had to hit a certain amount of hours in that first spring and summer to be eligible, which he did. But that also took a lot of his time.
“I think now he’s in a situation where he’s got a little bit more balance. He’s on track to graduate, but he doesn’t have to hump it like he did last spring. So we can really focus on some of the developmental aspects. He’s a guy that loves to train. He’s also one of those guys that are over-trained, so we’ve kind of got to get that he loves it so much that we’ve got to make sure he doesn’t get too big.”
Albemarle police ask that anyone with information that can help in the ongoing investigation is encouraged to contact Detective Ricci of ACPD’s Criminal Investigations Division at 434-296-5807.
