Kyle Tucker

@KyleTucker_CJ

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky defensive end Lloyd Tubman was arrested Tuesday and charged with first-degree rape, according to the Fayette County Detention Center's website. Following the arrest, Tubman, a 20-year-old freshman from Seneca High School, was suspended indefinitely from the Wildcats' football team.

For the second time in a week, coach Mark Stoops held a previously unscheduled press conference to address players' legal issues. Four freshmen were suspended for last week's game against South Carolina after being charged with disorderly conduct for their role in a pellet-gun incident that briefly locked down campus.

"Any time somebody in our program has an issue like this, it's obviously a major concern," Stoops said. "We just feel for all parties involved, and we'll let the legal process go through its course."

UK police arrested Tubman, who was still listed among the detention center's inmate population Tuesday night, although a uniform citation was not available. A report should appear in Fayette District Court records Wednesday.

First-degree rape in Kentucky is a Class B felony punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison. Stoops said he became aware of the allegations against Tubman on Thursday, "so it was a tough time, as you can imagine, last week."

He continued: "It was very difficult to meet with Lloyd and meet with his mother and to see, again, somebody in your program hurting. I feel for all parties. It's obviously not a situation that anybody wants to be in. … We're here to coach and teach and mentor and love, and this is a situation where nobody wants to be in."

Tubman, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound former four-star recruit — who picked UK over the likes of Penn State, Louisville and Nebraska — has not played this season for the Wildcats. He was already scheduled to redshirt this fall. All five players Stoops has suspended this season are freshmen, three of them in the middle of a redshirt year.

"Any time you get a youngster away from home, we try to have a lot of structure around them and we try to help them, guide them in all areas of their life," Stoops said. "I think we have quite a few good people that try to do the best they can to help these young guys through any difficult situation that they may have and just to help teach them."

Stoops said he met with his players last week to talk with them about off-the-field behavior.

"I addressed all issues, including this — including sexual assault and any kind of assault, and all those things," he said. "I addressed it at that time again, and we'll continue to do the best we can and educate these guys and, again, coach them and teach them and mentor them. And we'll be there for them when they need us to."

Stoops did not believe many players, other than those close to Tubman, knew about the allegations against him until Tuesday. Tubman's high school coach, Seneca's LaVell Boyd, said he spoke with the player over the weekend but knows few details about the case.

"You've got to let the legal process play out," Boyd said. "I can't really comment on it because I'm not directly involved in it, but from my side of things, Lloyd is a quality young man and you've got to let the legal process play out.

"Anybody who knows him can speak on his character, and you've got to let the legal process play out."

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.