Rising NCAA Player Gets Scary Health Update, Has Melanoma
It’s the kind of news no coach wants to report.
University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops began media day Friday by announcing that one of his rising young defensive stars, Joshua Paschal, has malignant melanoma, ESPN reported.
The melanoma was found on his right foot.
“As I reported last week about Josh Paschal and the skin lesions he had removed from the bottom of his right foot, well, I’m sorry to say that those came back as malignant melanoma. So since those results came back, Josh had another procedure this past Wednesday and we’re waiting for those results to come back,” Stoops said, according to the university.
“Out of respect to his family, please, you know, don’t dive into this anymore. Josh wanted to be upfront with this. Josh and his family are handling it well. They wanted to be open about this so there was no speculation. They also want this to be a reminder for people to pay close attention to any changes in their skin, and if so, have those evaluated,” the coach added.
https://twitter.com/JPaschalx/status/1025422146791727104
“You know, within our family, our football family have been very supportive of Josh and his family, and they are very — they are very strong people and they are doing the best they can in this situation, and we’ll help Josh along the way,” he said.
Stoops also reported that offensive line coach John Schlarman is dealing with a health issue. He is currently undergoing testing to determine the nature of the issue while he continues to coach.
“Again, John and Josh are very strong, very good people; two of the best people we have in our program. Our team will be supportive of them as they continue to battle through these health issues. It’s been a tough couple days in our program leading up to the beginning of camp here, but we — again, our hearts and prayers are with Josh and John as they battle this issue,” Stoops said.
Prayers for Joshua Paschal… BBN is behind you big man 🙏🏻
— UK Sports (@BigB1ueNation) August 3, 2018
Paschal, a sophomore, was a four-recruit from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Maryland.
The 6-foot-4 255-pounder was the 11th-ranked defensive end prospect in the nation when he signed with Maryland, according to 247 Sports.
He was the 267th ranked recruit overall that year.
Paschal chose Kentucky over college football powerhouses like Ohio State, Clemson, USC, Oklahoma and Notre Dame, according to Bleacher Report.
In eight games last season, Paschal had 3.5 sacks for the Wildcats. He was poised to play a bigger role this season.
“So we’re waiting on other results to come back with both of these guys this week and we will update you as I get this information. OK? So just wanted to be upfront about that as they will miss some time here and there. We, again, are sensitive to them and their families,” Stoops said.
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