Tania's right - it's his freshman year only (unless he's not coming in as a freshman, of course, in which case it's his first year with the program) and there's a little give-or-take, but don't count on it 'cause you do really have to start him.
Oh, and if you promise it to an ineligible and he reports to campus, you do not have to start him in his first year on the court.