Kansas State junior forward Dramane Diarra has been granted immediate eligibility in a ruling by the NCAA Management Council, head coach Jim Wooldridge announced Monday.

"I’m really excited and pleased for Dramane,” said Wooldridge. “Playing Division I basketball is something that he has dreamed about since he came to the U.S. I am also happy for our team because Dramane is someone that can really help us right now, especially with all the injuries we have sustained early this season.”

“I want to thank our athletic administration for all their hard work and dedication to this matter,” said Wooldridge. Tim Weiser (athletic directior) and Jim Epps (senior associate athletic director), along with Jimmy Elgas on our staff, have put a lot of time and effort into making this happen and I can’t thank them enough.”

Wooldridge said that he expects Diarra to play between 15-18 minutes against Kansas on Wednesday.

A 6-foot-8, 245-pound junior college transfer from Paris, France, Diarra had continued to practice with the team, but had yet to play in any of the Wildcats’ first 11 contests as he awaited a decision on his eligibility. He had been ruled ineligible by the NCAA on Nov. 21 relating to his participation on teams in his home country of France during the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons. He came to the United States in August 2001, enrolling at Cloud County Community College, where he he played two seasons before transferring to Kansas State.

“He didn’t receive anything except actual and necessary expenses, which according to the NCAA doesn’t constitute a professionalized player,” said Weiser.

A two-year starter and letterman at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan., Diarra averaged 15.7 points and 7.0 rebounds as a sophomore in 2002-03 en route to earning second team All-Jayhawk Conference honors for head coach Kevin Muff. Both averages ranked 16th in the Jayhawk Conference. He also registered a 1.6 blocked shots per game average at Cloud County, which was the seventh-best mark in the league. Diarra helped lead the T-Birds to a 19-14 overall record last season and a berth in the third round of the NJCAA Region VI Tournament. He was ranked the No. 50 JuCo player by Tony Mejia of CBSSportline.com and rated among the “Best of the Rest” among junior college players in the nation by Prepstars. Diarra averaged 8.0 points and 5.0 rebounds as a freshman for the T-Birds.

Kansas State (8-3) returns to action on Wednesday, when the Wildcats open Big 12 play on the road at No. 13/14 Kansas (9-2, 1-0 Big 12) at Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.

Note: The correct pronunciation of Dramane Diarra is DRA-man dee-ARR-uh