ODU Football will open its 2026 season on Saturday with a tribute to Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, an ODU professor and Staunton native who was murdered in his ROTC classroom earlier this year.
The Monarchs will take the field for their season opener with Norfolk State in special Under Armour camouflage jerseys with the name “LTC Shah” on the back in place of individual player names.
The game-worn uniforms will be made available for purchase during the game for $300, with all proceeds benefiting the family of Lt. Col. Shah.
Shah was killed when a former Virginia National Guard member who served time in prison on a 2016 terrorism-related charge opened fire on Shah’s ROTC classroom on March 12.
The shooter, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, who had gotten out of jail in 2024 – still trying to figure out the circumstances there: he’d been given an 11-year sentence in 2017 – was subdued by students in the class and “rendered no longer alive,” according to authorities.
Shah was a 2007 ODU alum who had an MBA from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree from the University of Kansas.
Shahn, a 2002 graduate of Charlottesville High School, was a professor of military science and chair of the Army ROTC department at ODU.
Shah attended ODU as an ROTC student, and had 45 months of forward deployed service to Iraq, Afghanistan and Europe, and served as a commander in various operations.
The shooter, Jalloh, was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone who served as a specialist in the Virginia Army National Guard from 2009 until 2015, when he was honorably discharged.
The ODU-Norfolk State game kicks off at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
ICYMI: Lt. Col. Brandon Shah
- ODU professor killed in terror attack was Staunton native, Charlottesville High School alum
- Smithfield man pleads guilty in connection to fatal shooting at ODU
- Report: ODU shooter’s prison term went unreported, led to ‘tragic consequences’
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Chris Graham
