By Paul Schmidt
Bombshell upon bombshell is rocking the Iowa Hawkeyes football program recently, and it appears if you thought the drug house scandal in Iowa City ended with Derrell Johnson-Koulianos…well, then you couldn’t have been more wrong.
Reportedly, the Iowa Hawkeyes coaching staff will be suspending and/or revoking the scholarships of up to 20 players because of failed drug tests. The University has not taken these actions yet, but inside sources point in that direction.
Curiosity was initially sparked around the nation when the Insight Bowl was pulled off the books everywhere from Las Vegas casinos to internet gaming sites.
This curious action sent gamblers scrambling for information.
Turns out, last night Jewel Hampton was making cryptic Facebook posts about being a former Hawkeye, and today it was reported that he is transferring.
And star tailback Adam Robinson is not traveling for the bowl game, it was reported minutes ago.
“Jewel Hampton has decided to leave the team and plans to transfer to another school to complete his degree and finish his career. We wish him the best of success in the future,” said Ferentz.
“While Adam has been cleared medically, he will not be participating in the upcoming Insight Bowl game as a result of failing to comply with team expectations and policies. Adam will have the option to rejoin the team when classes resume in January.”
Hampton, a 5-9, 210-pounder from Indianapolis, IN, has been plagued by injury problems during his three years at Iowa. He has rushed for 577 yards and scored eight touchdowns as a Hawkeye. He was injured in the Arizona game earlier this season and was lost for the season following surgery.
Robinson, a 5-9, 205-pound back from Des Moines, IA, led the team in rushing with 941 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Early in the day came a report that Iowa was releasing a statement at 3 PM, which was later pushed to 4:20. Yes, Iowa athletics was going to release a statement about pot-smoking football players….at 4:20. (cue laughter)
Perhaps realizing the folly of that, no statement came from the athletic department until around 5:40pm. No further statements will be made tonight, and a press conference will be held tomorrow morning at 10.
However, what can be gleaned from reports is that police recovered a laptop from DJK’s drug house that had a customer list, and this customer list led to the athletic department mandating drug tests. Reportedly — and it needs to be mentioned that this is not confirmed by Iowa — but reportedly a majority of the offensive starters failed these drug tests.
What will the fallout be? How many players suspended? Most importantly, did coaches know, and if so when??
Stay tuned to The Sports Bank for up to the date information on this breaking story.
–Paul Schmidt