The sigh of relief was practically audible from Florida.

Power forward Sammis Reyes, a signed recruit of the Hawaii men’s basketball team, was finally cleared by the NCAA on Thursday for the 2014-15 season.

Reyes had trained in Florida while awaiting word of an appeal with the NCAA, which was granted in the nick of time after plenty of suspense; the UH Manoa fall semester begins on Monday.

Reyes is expected to arrive on Sunday, the same day the other new and returning UH players are expected in.

"It feels great, man. I’m excited. I can’t wait to get out there," Reyes said. "Start working out with the team, get ready and try to make some noise."

Reyes, a 6-foot-6 Chilean national out of North Broward Prep (Fla.), was previously admitted into the UH system but needed NCAA approval to receive a scholarship. He said he got a call from UH coach Gib Arnold.

"We were both super excited. It’s been a whole lot of like, you know, conflict to get me cleared," Reyes said. "Filling out a whole bunch of paperwork every single day. It gets annoying after a while. But finally I got cleared."

Reyes regularly posted pictures of his basketball workouts on social media while he bided his time.

"Just working on my game, all-around," he said. "Basketball, weights, whatever it is. I’ll do a little bit of everything, just trying to get better."

Arnold did not respond to a request for comment.

New job posted

The UH men’s basketball team posted a full-time position for sports performance analyst on Monday, combining the responsibilities of two jobs on staff from last season.

Former video coordinator Jamie Smith is expected to be the top choice for the position. Smith was team performance analyst last season, but it’s believed he will have to go back to his native England because of work visa issues, and get them resolved before he can assume the posted position.

The new position combines Smith’s previous job responsibilities with those of the vacant position of director of basketball operations.