Quote:Ohio State football: Noah Spence out indefinitely due to second rules violation

Noah Spence was voted first team all-Big Ten by the league media last season.
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch • FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 4:47 PM


Noah Spence will not return to action Saturday for Ohio State because of a second violation of university and Big Ten rules, a university spokesman confirmed today. Though the junior defensive end’s college football career is in jeopardy, his parents said that’s secondary to the fact their son has come clean about having a “medical illness” and is seeking treatment for it.

“We love him dearly, and our focus is to get him the best medical attention we can,” Greg and Helen Spence said in an email to The Dispatch. “We are hopeful that Noah can get healthy and, at some point, resume his career with the Buckeyes.”

They were summoned from their Harrisburg, Pa., home to a meeting with coach Urban Meyer, defensive line coach Larry Johnson and their son late yesterday. Noah Spence, who had been suspended from the Orange Bowl the end of last season and the first two games of this year after his father said a Big Ten drug test at the league title game found traces of ecstasy in his system, apparently tested positive for it again. The results weren’t known until late this week, which explains why he was listed on the depth chart Tuesday for the first time this season.

At that meeting Noah Spence revealed his problem to his parents, they said. That’s opposed to what happened in December when he had said he thought someone had spiked his drink at a party. Greg Spence said that of course he and his wife were stunned by the latest revelation.

“But he had the strength to be honest with us about it, and he took ownership of it,” Greg Spence said in a brief interview with The Dispatch today.

Said Helen Spence: “Just looking at my son you could see a big burden had been lifted off of him.”

With the Buckeyes poised to take on the Golden Flashes at noon Saturday, Meyer was unavailable for comment.

In the email, his parents wrote “We are uncertain how long he will be ineligible, but we will work with Ohio State and the Big Ten until we have a final resolution.”

At the moment he likely is suspended indefinitely, since this was his second positive test. The NCAA classifies ecstasy as a stimulant on its list of banned substances, though its known effects seem counter to being anything other than a deterrent to someone playing a sport.

Noah Spence in all other ways has been a model Buckeye. On the field he was voted first team all-Big Ten by the league media last season, is also academic all-Big ten and is an OSU scholar athlete. Like most of the players, he also has taken part in numerous community service and outreach programs in his three years at the school.

The parents said Ohio State has pledged to keep him on scholarship and help him through the next phase of his situation.

“Ohio State has been very supportive and extremely helpful,” the parents said in the email. “And we look forward to working with their medical team throughout this process.”

tmay@dispatch.com

@TIM_MAYsports

(09-12-2014 07:55 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  He'll sit one meaningless game against Kent St. Guarantee he'll be back for UC