Kansas’ De Sousa opts out of season

Kansas forward Silvio de Sousa is opting out of the upcoming college basketball season, potentially ending what has been one of the most controversial tenures of any player in the blue blood program.

Coach Bill Self said in a statement that de Sousa was opting out to “focus on matters in his personal life.” Self added that it became clear in recent workouts that de Sousa was distracted, and after the two of them talked recently, “it was clear this was the best decision for him and Kansas basketball to leave the program.”

De Sousa said on social media that he’s unsure what’s next.

De Sousa joined the Jayhawks midway through the 2017-18 season and helped them reach the Final Four. But he was forced to sit out the next season amid eligibility questions after his name surfaced in the FBI probe into college basketball corruption, then served a 12-game suspension last year for his role in a brawl with Kansas State.

In other news:

• The NCAA stripped Massachusetts of 59 victories in men’s basketball and an Atlantic 10 Conference championship in women’s tennis for overpaying 12 athletes about $9,100 in financial aid from 2014 to 2017. The programs also got two years of probation, and the school will pay a selfimposed fine of $5,000.

UMass plans to appeal the decision to vacate the wins, a penalty A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade called “unfortunate” given that the NCAA acknowledged it as a misunderstanding.