Relief came in the form of a simple email addressed to University of Hawaii athletic director David Matlin.

Its contents were far-reaching: The wait was over.

The NCAA finally followed up on Manoa’s successful appeal from October and rescinded the Rainbow Warriors’ postseason ban and trimmed the scholarship reductions Friday morning. In the immediate sense, it allows the team to play in next week’s Big West Conference tournament in Anaheim, Calif. Longer term, UH doesn’t have to brace for aftershocks from former head coach Gib Arnold’s tumultuous tenure.

Matlin, who decided to appeal more than a year ago, acknowledged being “50-50” on which way he thought the NCAA — not known for reversing course or taking it easy on small-conference schools — would go. Nor did he know whether the collegiate governing body’s ruling would be made in time for UH to keep playing. The Big West’s effective deadline was this afternoon, when UH plays at Long Beach State in the regular-season finale.

“I really didn’t know until early (Friday) morning,” Matlin said. “I was hopeful. I thought we had a good case.”

Moments later, coach Eran Ganot and his coaches were notified as they traversed the airport in Sacramento, Calif., for a flight to Los Angeles.

Ganot called his players together to share the news. There were hugs, high-fives and smiles all around.

“Even if you envision that you have that moment where you can share that with your team, I don’t know if I thought it would be in an airport, right before you’re about to board the flight, in some random corner,” Ganot said. “But it didn’t really matter at that point where it was. All that mattered was the word.”

UH (14-14, 8-7 Big West), the defending tournament champion now comprised largely of first-year players, will be a No. 4 or 5 seed and play either LBSU or Cal State Northridge in the first round at the Honda Center on Thursday.

After basically the entire season passed without any word from the NCAA, the sudden good fortune didn’t seem quite real.

“Honestly, I didn’t even think this was a possibility,” said Gibson Johnson, a first-year forward. “I knew we had appealed it, but when I came on my (recruiting) visit … I was under the understanding that we weren’t going to be in the postseason. This is just a huge bonus for me and the whole team.”

Said the team’s lone senior, Noah Allen, “It means everything. That’s why we all play college basketball, to be able to play in March. So to have that opportunity is a blessing for all of us.”

UH is also back to its full complement of 13 scholarships for the 2017-18 season, thanks to the NCAA halving UH’s scholarships docked to two from four. Because UH has already reduced its scholarships by three (one last year and two this season), it fulfilled its obligation with one to spare. UH is exploring ways to retroactively give the extra scholarship to a walk-on player on this year’s team.

Damage was still done. UH’s roster was gutted from last year’s championship team, and three recruiting classes have been adversely affected.

Former UH players Aaron Valdes and Stefan Jankovic, who would have been seniors this year had they not decided to turn professional, expressed frustration on Twitter.

UH’s fan showing at the tournament — robust in recent seasons — will undoubtedly take a hit.

“Now people have, what, a couple days’ notice?” Matlin said. “So it’s going to be tough. I still think we’re still going to represent well, because that’s just who Hawaii is. But I think there’s a lot of people who would’ve gone who are not able to go.”

UH won’t get back a monetary fine, and nearly all wins from the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons remain vacated because of impermissible student-athlete benefits.

On the Big West’s side, last-place UC Santa Barbara is suddenly bumped out of the tournament.

“While it is frustrating that it took that long, I think at the end of the day, they got it (the decision) right,” Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell said. “I think the penalty now fits the crime, basically. And so we are appreciative of that.”

The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions announced UH’s initial sanctions Dec. 22, 2015, centering on violations committed by ex-coach Arnold’s staff beginning in 2011. UH, which fired Arnold prior to the 2014-15 season, appealed its penalties in early 2016, arguing that leniency should be applied, in part, because some of the violations occurred in a time an older penalty structure was used.

The COI maintained Friday it used the right penalty structure, but seemed to point the finger at the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee — which sided with UH in an Oct. 28 release — in agreeing to lessen UH’s case from Level II-Aggravated to Level II-Standard.

The COI said in the NCAA’s full report Friday, “Upon remand, the panel noted that over a full year elapsed from the time the institution filed its appeal to the time that the IAC issued its final directive to the panel. Throughout that time, the institution has been awaiting final resolution of its case. The panel considers this passage of time as an additional mitigating factor for the institution in this case.”

The NCAA has upheld its penalties directed specifically at Arnold, most notably a three-year show-cause hiring order on him through 2018. Arnold is now a scout with the Boston Celtics.

An NCAA spokeswoman said, “The panel won’t have any comments beyond the public release and report.”

Star-Advertiser reporter Ferd Lewis contributed to this report.