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 strenth 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. 24th, Jarmon tested postive 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 waht 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 judgement for 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 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 a second team Al-Southeastern Conference by Phil Steele's College Football. In 2007, he was a 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.