"It's Christmas in August," Sample said. "I'm so happy. I can focus on playing instead of worrying about if I'm going to play or what I'm going to do if I don't get the year back. It feels great."

According to UH, the waiver was granted because he was deprived of the opportunity to play for two seasons. He withdrew from a previous school in 2002 to take care of his mother, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis. Last year, he suffered a knee injury in the third game, and was granted a medical hardship waiver from the Western Athletic Conference.

While waiting for the NCAA's ruling, Sample said, "pessimism did creep in my mind a little bit. I stayed optimistic. The people who knew the best were reassuring me. They didn't say 'no,' so that was a good thing. I didn't think I'd find out until next week. When I found out this morning, (slotback) Davone (Bess) was making fun of me. He said I had a smile on my face about eight miles long."

Bess said: "He had a big Kool-Aid smile, which means his cheekbones were from ear to ear. I'm happy for him. He put in a lot of work all summer. He was out here all summer catching balls with us, running routes. He was hungry. I saw a new Ian from last summer to this summer. It would have been disappointing if he didn't get (the waiver)."