Kansas State basketball star Norris Coleman was...

Kansas State basketball star Norris Coleman was ineligible to play and receive an athletic scholarship under NCAA rules in effect at the start of this season, the Kansas City Times reported.

The newspaper cited rules, changed during the NCAA convention last month, that said a player at a Division I school lost one year of eligibility for each year of participation in organized basketball after his 20th birthday.

Coleman, 24, is in his first year at Kansas State, averaging 21.9 points per game. He played organized basketball in the Army during four separate 12-month periods following his 20th birthday on Sept. 27, 1981, the paper reported.