Wall cleared to play at UK

Former Word of God basketball star John Wall has been cleared to play this season — after he sits out an exhibition game and regular season game, and pays back almost $800 in travel expenses "incurred during Wall's unofficial visits to various institutions during his junior year at Word of God Christian Academy."

Here's the full news release from Kentucky:

University of Kentucky men's basketball student-athlete John Wall has been certified with conditions by the NCAA. The conditions are repayment of expenses and a two-game withholding, including the first exhibition game versus Campbellsville (Nov. 2) and the first regular-season game against Morehead State (Nov. 13).

Wall, a 6-4 freshman point guard from Raleigh, N.C., was one of five freshmen on the Naismith Preseason watch list. A pre-season All-American according to several national publications, Wall was the top recruit in the country last season according to Rivals.com.

"I'm grateful to have this decision behind me. All I ever wanted was to go to school and play ball with my team," said UK freshman John Wall. "This has been really hard for my mom and I want to thank her for her support during this process."

The repayment of expenses includes a total of $787.58, consisting predominantly of travel expenses incurred during Wall's unofficial visits to various institutions during his junior year at Word of God Christian Academy.

"We're appreciative of the process and the NCAA's willingness to listen," said UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart. "The NCAA staff worked to keep the welfare of the student-athlete in mind throughout this process. I'm happy for Coach Calipari and John Wall that he will get a chance to represent the Wildcats this season. He's a great young man and deserves to be able to concentrate fully on his academics and basketball."

"John Wall is a great kid who always tries to do the right thing and his mother is a great lady," said UK head coach John Calipari. "I'm just happy this is behind us."