MADISON -- On Monday afternoon, the Wisconsin athletic department released a statement confirming Quintez Cephus has "officially rejoined the football program," though UW is working through "eligibility issues" that need to be resolved before he can play in a game.

The news came hours after a release from UW-Madison announcing that, "Mr. Cephus has been reinstated as a UW–Madison student, effective immediately."

Here is the full statement from Wisconsin Athletics:

MADISON, Wis. -- Quintez Cephus has been reinstated as a UW-Madison student, allowing him to return to school. He has officially rejoined the football program and we are working through eligibility issues before he can participate in a game.

UW Athletics takes allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously.

We know that sexual assault and sexual harassment have profound impacts on college campuses.

“We have a robust educational program around sexual misconduct in place for our student-athletes and we will continue those efforts going forward,” Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said.

Cephus and two of his attorneys, Kathleen Stilling and Stephen Meyer, spoke with reporters at a press conference on Monday afternoon outside the Madison Municipal Building prior to the UW athletic department release.

The first question asked by a reporter was if he plans on trying to get back on the Wisconsin football team, Cephus simply responded, “Yes.”

When asked to further elaborate, Cephus stated his plans to return to UW and the football program, “I’m here to come back to school here and to go to practice with my teammates.”

Wisconsin stated in their released about the eligibility issues needing to be cleared up before he can compete in a game, and he also acknowledged he did not know what his scholarship status was.

However, Cephus believes he will be able to play this season and help the team if he does suit up for the Badgers. He also hopes to get back to academic All-Big Ten status that he earned for the 2017 season.

“I’m ready to win football games and start back getting my education and I expect to do it at a very high level," Cephus said.

According to Cephus and Meyer, he was flying back to Madison from a family visit in Macon when he found out he was re-instated to the university.

“Extremely happy," Cephus said about his reaction to the news of reinstatement. "I was on a plane so I was just in my seat bouncing around.”

Before being suspended from the team before the start of the 2018 season, Cephus played in 23 games with 13 starts in two seasons and recorded 34 catches for 595 yards with six touchdowns. Before sustaining a season-ending injury against Indiana, he registered a breakout season in 2017 in catching 30 passes for 501 yards and six scores through the air.

He acknowledged he spoke with Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst.

“He just told me he was happy that I’m back, and he’s just ready to see me after this," Cephus said.

Earlier this month, Cephus was found not guilty by a Dane County jury of two counts of sexual assault. He applied for readmission to the university thereafter, and both head coach Paul Chryst stated the team "absolutely would" welcome back the wide receiver to the team if it was best for him.

Many players also showed support for him during interviews, on social media with a graphic noting the phrase "Wisconsin Don't Delay, Let QT Play," and the hashtag #LetQTPlay, a letter signed by seven leaders of the team sent to UW Chancellor Becky Blank, and also during a press conference on Aug. 12.

Instead of transferring elsewhere in a new setting, Cephus will stay at Wisconsin. When asked why it was important to finish at UW rather than transferring to another university and football program, he cited the team as a heavy influence.

“Because of my teammates and my coaches, and them doing as much as they could to support me through this whole thing," Cephus said. "I have no reason to run from Wisconsin. I’m just here to continue my education and continue to play football.”

In UW-Madison's release about Cephus' reinstatement, the discussion of sanctions being "reduced" was shown, as seen below:

As a result of this review, sanctions for Quintez Cephus have been reduced and his expulsion lifted. There were findings of responsibility of the student non-academic misconduct code that were upheld.

Stilling told reporters she wanted clarify the university's statement:

"One of the things in the statement indicated that some of the findings remained intact, and I wanted to make it perfectly clear that the two sexual assault violations were vacated, and they’ve been removed from his record.

"The only violation or only finding that remained was sexual harassment involved in the taking of the picture, which was extensively discussed at trial. He has completed his penalty for that. He has absolutely no sanctions at this time, and he returns to school a student in good standing. It has been a long year for this young man, and now he has a chance to make a fresh start, and he’s come back to do it here.”