The appeal of Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa to the NCAA has been approved.

In a ruling handed down Friday afternoon, mere hours after a formal Kansas appeal to the NCAA regarding a potential reinstatement, the NCAA said it will reverse its original decision on De Sousa, allowing him to regain eligibility immediately beginning in 2019-2020 after sitting out all of 2018-19.

The original NCAA ruling came in February when it was alleged his guardian had accepted money from an individual deemed a booster and agent by the NCAA. At the time, that ruling made him ineligible for the remainder of the 2018-19 season and the entirety of 2019-20. KU submitted its appeal of the decision on April 18.

Friday’s ruling could potentially have signaled the end of De Sousa’s college career. He had declared for the NBA Draft and could have simply left college if the NCAA upheld its original ruling. Now, though, he’s eligible to return — and Kansas announced he will.

Here’s what De Sousa said in a statement released by the Jayhawks:

“I’m so excited to be able to come back to Kansas to play and to continue my education. It’s an amazing feeling. I want to thank the NCAA committee for the opportunity to do what I really want to do. All those days and nights wondering what would happen…this makes it all worth it. I also want to thank everyone at Kansas for working so hard to make sure I can follow my dream. Jayhawk Nation, I can’t thank you all enough for the unconditional support and for sticking around throughout this. I tried to turn the year off into a blessing. I got to work on my game and my academics, and now I’m going to make the most of this opportunity.” 

De Sousa last played during the 2017-18 college basketball season. As a freshman, he participated in 20 games — including KU’s run to the Final Four — averaging 4.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.2 blocks per game.