LEXINGTON, Ky. – Almost a year after Kentucky suspended outside linebacker Denzil Ware for its 2017 Music City Bowl game against Northwestern, details have emerged as to the cause of that suspension.

Ware, who transferred from UK to Jacksonville State before the 2018 season, was held out of the bowl game after accepting $1,628 in impermissible benefits from someone who triggered the NCAA’s definition of an agent, according to a self-reported rules violation made by UK to the SEC and NCAA and obtained by the Courier Journal through an open records request.

The document does not name Ware, but the details of the report make it clear the player identified as “student-athlete #1” was him.

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According to the document, the player involved first made contact with agent Jordan Reid as a junior in high school while living in Alabama and verbally committed to play for Florida State. Ware told UK’s compliance department he believed Reid and another man, Cliff Nyman, were friends who viewed him as their “little brother” and “made sure (he) was always straight with everything school-wise or, you know, outside of my mom couldn’t help with it, they just made sure I was never behind on anything.”

Before his senior year of high school, Ware moved back from Alabama to Florida and ceased contact with Reid and Nyman. He eventually signed with Kentucky in 2014 and developed into a key piece of the Wildcats’ defense, totaling 13 sacks in 37 games across three seasons from 2015 to 2017.

After not speaking to Ware for four years, Reid, an agent with the Black Ops Sports Group, reestablished contact during Ware’s junior year at UK and “began providing benefits shortly thereafter,” according to UK’s self-reported rules violation. Ware told UK he thought Reid was a friend and did not realize he qualified as an agent per NCAA rules or was currently working for a sports agency.

During the spring of 2017, Ware interacted with Reid and/or three other members of the Black Ops Sports Group (Kathy Jones, Candance Jones and Dwight McKenzie) at Lexington restaurants and a bar on three occasions. Ware reported to UK he did not pay for his meals and drinks at the meetings. Reid told Ware “the Jones family were people that he could reach out to if he needed anything during his time at the institution,” according to UK’s report.

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Reid also provided Ware with one $50 and several $100 cash payments totaling approximately $850 from the start of the 2016-17 academic year through September 2017. During the summer of 2017 Candace Jones provided Ware with a new pair of Nike sneakers and $100 cash. In June 2017, Ware and a teammate accompanied a group of individuals to a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio on a trip organized by Candace Jones and were provided free transportation, entertainment, food, drinks and other benefits.

The teammate, identified as student-athlete No. 2 in the report, received $396.20 in impermissible benefits. Unlike Ware, the second player, a senior, was not suspended from the bowl game but was held from the first offensive series and removed from the group of team captains elected by teammates for the game.

That description matches former UK wide receiver Garrett Johnson, who started every game except the bowl last season and was listed a captain for the regular-season finale but not the bowl game. Ware posted a picture of himself and Johnson together in Cincinnati on June 10, 2017 to his Instagram account.

Upon learning of the impermissible benefits, UK began communicating with the NCAA and SEC, according to the report. The school decided “due to the amount of impermissible benefits received, regardless of the fact that the student-athlete had been provided immunity” to suspend Ware from the bowl game and inform him there might be additional suspensions for the fall 2018 season. The school also removed him from the annual Super Bowl commercial filmed to promote season ticket sales.

UK coach Mark Stoops announced Ware’s suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules after the team had traveled to Nashville for the Music City Bowl and initially told reporters he could not confirm whether Ware would be back on the team next season.

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After one bowl practice, teammate Benny Snell delivered an unprompted impassioned defense of Ware.

“I would like to say there’s no Benny Snell mentality without Denzil Ware,” Snell said. “That man has done a lot of great things for me. I’ve learned too many things from him right now and the negativity and all that, that’s just not needed. That man’s a great man and I hope to see him go to the next level one day.”

Using the same graphic teammates Josh Allen and Mike Edwards used to announce the were not entering the NFL draft, Ware announced he would return to Kentucky for his senior year on Jan. 11. In February, Stoops confirmed Ware was “participating in everything at this point in time.”

Ware was not available for interviews during spring practice, but teammates and coaches frequently referred to him as an important part of the defense moving forward and he played in the annual Blue-White scrimmage. UK coaches moved sophomore Josh Paschal from outside linebacker to defensive end in spring practice in part to find a way to start him alongside Ware and Allen.

In May after graduating from UK, Ware announced he was transferring to FCS Jacksonville State, where he recorded 23 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in 11 games.

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According to UK’s report, Ware informed the school he was transferring while the athletics department was still considering whether he would need to be held out of additional games. The school conducted additional “in-depth rules education” with the entire football team specifically related to agents, benefits from agents and impermissible extra benefits on March 28, 2018.

The SEC and NCAA accepted UK’s self-imposed punishment and declined to assess any additional penalties.

Jon Hale: jahale@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @JonHale_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jonh.