The case against LSU defensive back Kristian Fulton has taken another turn.

This time, it's in the right direction for the New Orleans native and junior cornerback for the Tigers.

On Thursday, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron announced that Fulton had been reinstated by the NCAA and was eligible to play immediately. Fulton's father, Keith Fulton, confirmed with the Geaux247 staff that if Fulton is able to pass a drug test, he will be able to return to the field for the Tigers this season. The news comes just 10 days out from LSU's season opener against the Miami Hurricanes.

Fulton could be an immediate starter for the Tigers, with the former five-star prospect lining up opposite of Greedy Williams at the cornerback position - giving the team one of the best tandems of cornerbacks in the country.

The news comes less than two weeks after the NCAA ruled that Fulton would have to serve out the entirety of his two-year ban from the field. After an August 10 teleconference that lasted 60-plus minutes, the NCAA upheld its decision to suspend the LSU cornerback for two full years in what has turned into one of the strangest cases in college football in recent memory.

In 2017, the NCAA alleged that Fulton tampered with a drug testing sample after he feared the NCAA was testing for marijuana. When it was revealed that the test was for performance-enhancing drugs, Fulton provided his own urine sample, which returned from a UCLA laboratory clean of any banned performance-enhancing substances. But because of Fulton's initial alleged tampering, the NCAA suspended the New Orleans native for two full seasons.

Fulton sat out the entire 2017 season, but then hoped his punishment would be reduced through an NCAA hearing. Fulton's lawyer, Don Jackson, appealed the case to the NCAA, and earlier this month a teleconference took place between Jackson, the Fulton family, LSU athletics director Joe Alleva and an NCAA panel.

The verdict - at the time - said he would have to sit out another full year before being allowed to get onto the college football field again.

Following the NCAA's decision earlier this month, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron made the following comments.

"Of course, I am very disappointed by this decision," he said. "He's done what we've asked him to do and I believe the appeal was a good one. He's going to keep working and we're going to stick by him.”

Added LSU AD Joe Alleva: "I was on the call today with Kristian and our team and I believe we made a strong case for an appeal to the committee. I'm disappointed by this decision. Kristian has worked hard to work his way back from this and we are going to continue to support him."

On Thursday, news came in that the NCAA had changed its course.

Keith Fulton tells the Geaux247 staff that Alleva sent a four-page letter to the NCAA outlining reasons for reinstating his son, with the biggest push pointing to the reality that the NCAA charged Fulton with tampering, a tw0-year penalty, when he should have been charged with urine substitution, which carries just a one-year penalty. Fulton said the NCAA's interpretation committee agreed, and his initial two-year suspension was reduced to a one-year suspension - time that Fulton had already served after sitting out all of the 2017 season.

Fulton, who hasn't been able to compete in a game since his freshman year in 2016, will now have the chance to play as a junior instead of waiting until the 2019 season as a senior, meaning he would have sat out both his sophomore and junior seasons. The former five-star prospect left Rummel High in 2016 ranked as the No. 3 cornerback prospect in the country.

Stay tuned to Geaux247 for more on this breaking news.