Mitch Barnhart and Jeremy Jarmon. (Photo by John Clay)
In a nutshell, UK defensive end Jeremy Jarmon has been ruled ineligible after testing positive for a banned substance he was taking in a dietary supplement. The suspension is for one year. Because Jarmon is a senior, his career at UK is over. Kentucky appealed the decision but was informed by the NCAA on Thursday that the appeal was denied.
Here is the official release from UK on Jarmon:
Jarmon Ruled Ineligible for Senior Season
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon has been ruled ineligible for his senior season after inadvertently taking a dietary supplement that contained a substance banned by the NCAA.
At Jarmon’s request, he discussed the situation at a news conference Saturday morning on the UK campus. He began taking the supplement in early February with a goal of becoming leaner, but did not have the supplement approved in advance by the UK strength and conditioning staff, which is the proper procedure. He later asked about the supplement, which he discontinued taking after being advised to do so.
In a routine, random test by the NCAA on Feb. 24, Jarmon tested positive for a banned substance. The penalty for a positive test is the loss of one year of eligibility, in effect ending the collegiate career of the Wildcat senior. His appeal for reinstatement was denied Thursday night.
“My first concern is with Jeremy and his family and what a devastating blow this is for them,” Coach Rich Brooks said. “There was no intent by Jeremy to do anything improper, it was an error in judgment in not checking with our staff (before taking the supplement). Jeremy has been an outstanding individual on and off the football field, and I hope that people understand what a class act he has been.”
Jarmon played in 38 games during the last three seasons, including 31 starting assignments. He made 38 tackles as a junior, including 10 for loss and 4.5 quarterback sacks, along with six pass breakups. He was named second-team All-Southeastern Conference by Phil Steele’s College Football. In 2007, he was first-team All-SEC by Rivals.com and second-team All-SEC by the league coaches when he had 62 tackles, including 13.5 TFL and nine sacks. He has 17.5 sacks in his career, third in school history.
Jarmon has completed his degree in political science and is studying abroad this summer as he works toward a second major.
Here is the Liveblog:
I’m here at Memorial Coliseum for the mysterious press conference, the subject matter of which will not be announced until then. The rumors have continued into this morning with the prevailing speculation centering on football and the consensus that whatever the announcement might be, it’s probably not good.
- That’s the end of the press conference. Apologies for the server crashing earlier.
- Barnhart says that Jarmon has been a model person and athlete. Never had a discipline problem. Never tested positive before. “He’s been unbelievable for the University of Kentucky,” said Barnhart.
- Mitch says he thinks that 38 football players were tested the last round.
- Barnhart says the NCAA testing process is random. It wasn’t just a football test. It’s all sports. This was not caught by the internal testing process, but by the NCAA testing process. They test fall, spring, summer and post-season play.
- Mitch says “(Jarmon) is one of the best of the best who got caught in an unfortunate set of circumstances.”
- Mitch: “We tell them don’t put anything in your mouth until you (talk to UK’s trainers).”
- Mitch says that the education process on this matter at UK is considerable. And Jarmon attested to that when he was giving his statement.
- Barnhart saying he doesn’t want to say that the NCAA is not unfair, they have been consistent. “I do think there are a couple of issues that need to be raised, but I’ll raise them with them before I do that publicly.”
- Mitch now saying they went through the appeal process. Said it was an anonymous process, and that’s the right way to deal with that. There is middle ground if the NCAA thinks its appropriate, but they didn’t feel it was appropriate.
- Jarmon said he will be better long-term for the diet, and he should have researched the supplement he was taking.
- Barnhart says that the rules “are consistent based on precedence.” He says that they will have to live with the rule.
- Jarmon broke down when talking about Mitch Barnhart, Sandy Bell and Rich Brooks.
- He was selected for a random drug test by the NCAA when it came to campus for tests.
- Says he told UK what he was taking, but it was too late.
- Says he got a vitamin at a health food store. Said a supplement was recommended. He wanted only to purchase a vitamin. Said he also changed his protein shake from what UK provided.
- Says he made a New Year’s resolution to go on a diet to get his body fat down.
- Jarmon is making his case of what he told the NCAA. He said he did make a bad decision.
- Jarmon wanted a chance to speak about what has happened. He will not take questions.
- Barnhart says that UK appealed the NCAA decision and the appeal was denied.
- Jarmon has tested positive for an NCAA banned substance his career at Kentucky is over.
- Jeremy Jarmon and Mitch Barnhart just came into the room and are at the podium.
- We’re about five minutes away from getting starter. We have learned that Rich Brooks will not be here this morning. He’s in California at a golf tournament.
- We are scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m.
I hope this is not as bad as my gut feeling says it is.
Man this is complete bull. I seem to recall several other high profile collegiate football players testing positive and just getting a slap on the wrist. Jarmon got railroaded.
The NCAA is flawed. Student athletes are treated as slaves. It is time to fire Miles Brand and reform the NCAA. This was not a steroid nor was it an enhancement drug. Jeremy was trying to lose weight. He was not using anything illegal such as marijuana, cocaine, or steroinds. Jarmon represented the University of Kentucky and the NCAA well. This is a travesty to someone who has sacrificed and given his all to the University. The NCAA should do whats best for the student athlete. Jarmon should have been given a second chance. Student athletes are young adults and make mistakes. The crime does not warrant the punishment. The NCAA has made itself look bad and should reconsider. I am positive there are more athletes who whould be punished for roids or drug abuse. This is truly a sad day for all of sports. Good luck to Jeremy, you are truly a great athlete and person. Lets reform the corrupted NCAA.
Sorry but you have done a poor job of this! Your reporting needs help.
He drank da shake and now has to loose his football career at UK. WoW
If the NCAA list of banned substances is like the Olympic list, it is difficult for an athlete to take almost anything without the fear of testing positive. It is a shame that he was trying to do something positve (lose weight and get his body fat percentage down) and he ends up getting the final year of his college career taken away from him. Can he become a free agent and play NFL now?
Just seems like a bad deal for the school and player. What was the point of testing him again if the NCAA takes his last year anyway. Guess the question of gaining an advantage wasn’t really thought out. He should be allowed to play and talk with local HS students about the downfalls of this type of thing. Now the guy leaves school and doesn’t have a support system around him. Great way for the NCAA to “take care” of these guys. Just think of all the guys doing real drugs and having other problems with the law. Didn’t we give that QB a couple or three chances before removing him from the team. Didn’t see the NCAA getting all crazy about that situation.
Every day hundreds of pounds of drugs are smuggled into the USA by illegal immigrants and we basically ignore them. Then an out of touch bunch of old men on the NCAA Board make a silly ruling like this on an excellent young man. The NCAA SUCKS!
@jim: I disagree. If you don’t like the reporting, then don’t visit John’s blog.
Jim’s criticism is well-founded. There was a problem with the server early on that was preventing from the blog from being updated. It was fixed toward the end of the press conference.
Why not identify the banned substance to keep anyone else from making the same mistake — to much non-disclosure here. Is it something over the counter or something off the internet.
It was over the counter.
I see, thanks for explaining. It really seemed strange.
cconhhi, mind your own business. Jim Clay explained the problem.
I say again, UK should identify this easily obtainable over the counter substance to keep anyone else from making this same tragic mistake. Think of all the careers that could be inadvertently ruined by keeping this a secret.
Here are also links to a list of banned substances. It includes caffeine which is often found in diet supplements. Vitaminwater (the same product that Rick Pitino/Christian Laetner were pushing) has been found to have banned substances in it.
http://www.netitor.com/photos/schoolslt/domi/genrel/auto_pdf/ncaa-banned-substance-list.pdf
http://web.plattsburgh.edu/athletics/sportsmedicine/ncaabanned.php
Corrupt Cats. Cheat, cheat, cheat, cheat
Jeremy, sir, we love you. Thanks for all that you have done for your fans and the University of Kentucky. You got a raw deal. You took and ‘over the counter’ diet supplement that contained a “banned drug” from a ‘secret’ list. It was a mistake, but the time doesn’t fit the crime. How can a legal ‘drug’ be banned? UK has a great Law School and should take a stand in the court system, for your situation. At most you should have to sit for a few practices. Not even miss a game. The ‘banned drug’ was not even in his body just a few days later. It was probabley no more than a placebo. You are a good man a deserve better support from UK. The NCAA said there was a precedent. That too, should be challenged. Maybe the precedent was wrong also, and should be changed. Come on UK, give Jeremy as much as he gave you.
JEREMY GOT SCREWED. I LIVED WITH HIM AT UK AND HE IS NOTHING BUT A GREAT GUY AND DEFINTELY DIDN’T NEED ANY “ENHANCEMENT” DRUGS. TRYING TO LOSE BODY FAT AND LOSES HIS CAREER. I THINK THE STORE HE BOUGHT IT FROM SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE. DON’T WORRY YOU WILL BE HEARING HIS NAME IN THE PROS AND THAT IS FOR SURE. HE WILL BE MISSED BY EVERYONE AT UK AND THE WHOLE COLLEGE FOOTBALL COMMUNITY. I LOVE YOU BRO, AND SCREW THE NCAA!