Cady Lalanne is officially a Minuteman after being accepted by the University of Massachusetts admissions department Monday.

Lalanne, a 6-foot-8 big man from Haiti who attended high school in Orlando, committed to Georgia but did not reach the NCAA's minimum academic eligibility standards. The Southeastern Conference doesn't allow its members to accept nonqualifiers.

Lalanne will pay his own way to UMass as a freshman and will not be allowed to participate in games or practices this year. He'll be eligible to get a scholarship and join the Minutemen in the 2011-12 season.

"I'm happy everything worked out," said Lalanne, who visited UMass last fall when the Minutemen were originally recruiting him. "The players were really cool. I got along with them and I like Coach (Derek) Kellogg. When things didn't work out at Georgia, I'm really happy that UMass opened up. I liked the campus' feel, how they had old buildings and new buildings and that there's actually different seasons up there."

UMass has a track record of success with academic nonqualifiers as Donta Bright, Tyrone Weeks, Lari Ketner, Monty Mack, Anthony Anderson and Rashaun Freeman all set out their first seasons for academics before blossoming into all-league players.

Lalanne said he planned on taking full advantage of his year off.

"Working hard in the classroom and on my basketball skills could really help me in the long run," he said. "I was really glad to know that players did this before me and benefitted from doing it. I'm just planning on doing my schoolwork and working out and getting bigger."

Kellogg said he wasn't supposed to talk about Lalanne athletically because of his nonqualifier status, but praised the player personally.

"It's great that Cady decided to come to UMass and be a student. I think he's got unbelievable character and will be a great addition to the UMass community," Kellogg said. "There's been a lot of people who have been in similar situations who have done great things. He's one of the nicest kids I've been around and I think he'll take full advantage of being a student."

Lalanne's AAU coach Matt Ramker thought UMass was a good fit for Lalanne.

"We were disappointed that it didn't work out at Georgia. We're relieved he has a home and a spot to go to. I think it has a chance to be an excellent fit. Coach Kellogg recruited Cady very hard and almost signed him in the early period. Cady has a chance to be a really good player. I think he's got a high ceiling. With hard work and commitment he has a chance to be one of the better players in the league."

ANOTHER DINGLE? - He'll only be starting his junior year in the fall, but Daniel Dingle, the younger brother of former UMass standout Dana Dingle,is already on the Minutemen's recruiting radar.

The younger Dingle is a 6-foot-7 forward at St. Raymond's High School in New York. It's the same school that produced his brother as well as fellow Minutemen Charlton Clarke and Kitwana Rhymer. He's drawn interest from several big name programs already including Kentucky and John Calipari.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.