Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz says running back Adam Robinson’s suspension is not drug related and he does not anticipate any more disciplinary action prior to the December 28th Insight Bowl against Missouri. Ferentz and athletic director Gary Barta held a news conference this morning to address rumors that have surrounded the program since standout receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos was arrested last week on drug charges.
Running back Jewel Hampton is also leaving the program. He has missed most of the last two seasons with knee injuries. Johnson-Koulianos’ roommate was also arrested last week and Ferentz was asked if he keeps track of who players live with. He says it hasn’t been their policy in 12 years and it may be something they need to change, but he says it’s a wide circle of friends and others to do background checks on everyone.
Ferentz says Hampton and Robinson’s situation are not connected to Johnson-Koulianos. He says they are talking about one player with legal issues and “that’s where it is.” Ferentz says Robinson’s suspension is academic related, and says he was approaching that a couple of weeks ago when he sat out the start of the Ohio State game. He says Robinson didn’t learn fast enough from the punishment in the Ohio State game and says he will be eligible unless he fails to take his finals.
Ferentz says Iowa has a drug testing system that has been in place for several years and they have been very, very proactive with 92 athletes tested, 27 by outside bodies and 65 in house.
Iowa athletic director Gary Barta says they decided now was the right time to address all of the issues. Barta says they took into account what happened with D.J.K’s arrest and then the added suspensions, so they felt they should talk about as much as they could.
Barta says drug testing is also done by the NCAA and the Big Ten, and something that is done with all student athletes and not just football and all athletes get tested at some point during the year.
Barta says in the wake of last week’s arrest they are evaluating their testing program to make sure players cannot cheat. He says they are not mandated to doing the test, and they want to make sure the $70,000 a year they spend on drug testing is worth it.