Jeremy Jarmon ineligible at Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. - All-SEC defensive end Jeremy Jarmon has lost collegiate eligibility to play football as a result of Jarmon testing positive for banned substance use.

A star defensive end for Kentucky, and one of the key players in Kentucky's Liberty Bowl victory over East Carolina, Jarmon has lost eligibility to play college athletics as a result of testing positive for a banned substance by the NCAA.

Ironically, Jarmon earned praise for his performance in a student production of the play “Weak/Side/Help” on Kentucky’s campus last April. Jarmon excelled in his role as a backup quarterback who experimented with steroid use in an attempt to climb the depth chart.

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart first spoke at the approximately 25 minute press conference and announced the news. He acknowledged the unusual nature of the press conference, but said that Jarmon requested an opportunity to speak, and the University granted that opportunity due to all that Jarmon had contributed to UK.

Jarmon acknowledged that he began a New Year's resolution to drop his weight from 286 to 275, and as part of that resolution, began dietary changes. His family purchased different nutritional supplements for him, lower calorie, and he began eating a lower fat diet. He also began taking a supplement for about sixteen days before telling the University of Kentucky trainers.

When he told the trainers what he was taking, they directed him to stop taking the supplement, and Jarmon did so immediately. Six days later, the NCAA came to Lexington on a random drug test, and Jarmon tested positive for a banned substance. The NCAA tested Jarmon again six weeks later, and he tested negative. Jarmon said that indicated it was not a long-term use at all.

NCAA rules require a one-year loss of eligibility for testing for a banned substance, but permit the loss to be reduced to a half-season upon showing it was unintentional. Kentucky appealed, seeking the NCAA to adopt this "middle ground," as Barnhart described it, but the NCAA denied the appeal. As a result, Jarmon's collegiate career is over.

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