BREAKING: THE DECISION IS IN ON QUE

THE LONG WAIT for Que Johnson, the Washington State basketball men’s basketball program and the Cougar Nation, is over -- kind of. The decision on the 6-5 wing’s eligibility has come in from the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Johnson has been ruled a partial qualifier by the NCAA, a Washington State SID spokesperson confirmed to Cougfan.com.

Johnson will receive athletics aid during the 2012-13 school year, but is ineligible for competition during the upcoming basketball season.

A release is expected out later today from WSU, at which time this article will be updated.

A 6-foot-5 guard from Pontiac, Mich., Johnson attended Westwind Prep in Phoenix, Ariz. He signed his National Letter of Intent with Washington State in November 2011.

Johnson being named a partial qualifier is an important development for two reasons -- he is a highly talented perimeter shooter and while he can't make an immediate impact this season, he will be taking classes at Washington State with a solid opportunity to be fully cleared next season. And had he not been deemed a partial qualifier, his loss would have effectively turned this WSU hoops recruiting class into a mild meltdown given that big man Richard Peters had already failed to make grades and that among the WSU class -- Richard Longrus, Brett Boese, James Hunter and Johnson -- Que was the headliner.

Johnson averaged 20.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game as a junior at Westwind Prep Academy in Phoenix.

JOHNSON WAS CONSIDERED one of the top shooters on the West Coast and chose WSU over Washington, Gonzaga, UNLV and several others. He was ranked three stars and the No. 29 small forward in the land by Scout.com.

Johnson attended a summer school session at WSU and has been taking classes since Monday’s start of the fall semester at WSU. During the summer, he was able to watch, but not participate, some of his WSU teammates doing individual workouts -- he was sidelined with the stress fracture in his left knee suffered during training.

Johnson, who wasn't able to accompany the Cougs on their recent exhibition tour of Australia while in academic limbo, is still nursing the injury but told CF.C last week that he is getting better each day and has been able to do light training and conditioning. The Cougs open with an exhibition game on Tuesday, Nov. 6, against Saint Martin’s at Friel Court.

Braulio Perez contributed to this report.