Sophomore running back Jewel Hampton will leave the University of Iowa, and fellow sophomore Adam Robinson will not travel with the team to the Insight Bowl, head coach Kirk Ferentz announced Monday evening.
"Jewel Hampton has decided to leave the team and plans to transfer to another school to complete his degree and finish his career," Ferentz said in a release. "We wish him the best of success in the future."
The release said Ferentz and Hawkeye Athletics Director Gary Barta would have no further comment on the issue Monday evening. Ferentz and Barta plan to hold a press conference at 10 a.m. today in the Hayden Fry Football Complex.
Hampton, a 5-9, 210-pounder from Indianapolis, burst onto the scene as a true freshman at Iowa in 2008. Backing up running back Shonn Greene, Hampton ran for 463 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
In the summer of 2009, Hampton suffered a torn right ACL that kept him out the entire season.
He had 114 rushing yards and one touchdown in two games this season.
Sunday night, Hampton posted a Facebook status that read "Former Hawkeye!!! wats next???" Robinson was the first to comment on Hampton’s Facebook status: "hmm…. first and for most… LIVE IT UP!" Robinson’s post has since been removed.
Robinson — a 5-9, 205-pound back from Des Moines — will not play in the Insight Bowl in Arizona on Dec. 28 after "failing to comply with team expectations and policies," according to a press release.
"While Adam has been cleared medically, he will not be participating in the upcoming Insight Bowl game," Ferentz said in the release. "Adam will have the option to rejoin the team when classes resume in January."
Robinson led the Iowa rushing attack this season with 941 yards and 10 touchdowns. He missed the Indiana and Minnesota game because of a pair of concussions he suffered in the Michigan State and Ohio State games on Oct. 30 and Nov. 20. Robinson also didn’t start in the Ohio State game because of what Ferentz described as "academic indigestion."
News of Hampton transferring comes just a day after Associate Athletics Director Fred Mims told The Daily Iowan that running back Brandon Wegher asked for and was granted a release from his scholarship. Mims said the only stipulation in Wegher’s release is that he cannot transfer to a Big Ten school.
Wegher didn’t play at all during the 2010 season, after leaving the team two days into fall camp for "personal reasons." He rushed for 641 yards and an Iowa freshman-record eight touchdown in 2009.
This leaves true freshman Marcus Coker as the Hawkeyes’ lone option in the backfield for the Insight Bowl. Coker has 403 yards on the season, 303 yards over his last three games.
Iowa will also be without senior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos for the bowl game.
Johnson-Koulianos was dismissed from the team following his arrest on Dec. 7 on seven drug-related charges. The Campbell, Ohio, native is Iowa’s all-time leader in both receiving yards and receptions.
Johnson-Koulianos posted a status on Facebook regarding the situation late Monday night.
DI reporter Mitch Smith and sports editor Jordan Garretson contributed to this report.
