Kansas to hold De Sousa out

Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa, whose name surfaced as part of the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball, will be withheld from competition pending a review of his eligibility.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self said in a statement before appearing at the Big 12's annual media day Wednesday that the sophomore forward would be held out beginning with Thursday's exhibition game.

During the trial of former Adidas executive James Gatto, ex-AAU coach T.J. Gassnola testified that he facilitated payments to De Sousa's guardian in an attempt to steer him toward Kansas. Gassnola denied that the Jayhawks' coaching staff knew about the payments.

De Sousa graduated from IMG Academy last December and joined the Jayhawks for the spring semester, providing valuable interior depth as the school made a run to the Final Four.

Self, a former Oklahoma State basketball player, emphatically denied Wednesday night that members of his staff ever offered impermissible benefits to prospective players.

Big 12 to have fresh look this year

The biggest debate to come out of Big 12 media day may involve what team is reloading the most.

TCU coach Jamie Dixon pointed out that he has five guys returning but "the other eight are brand new, haven't played any college basketball." Oklahoma State's Mike Boynton joked that expectations are so low for his newcomers that "the votes we got probably qualify for 11th or 12th but there are only 10 teams."

Then there's Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team lost just about every key player from last season. He has one of the freshest rosters in all of Division I basketball this year.

West Virginia already dealing with injuries

West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate and guard James Bolden have spent most of the preseason standing on the sideline, and coach Bob Huggins says the Mountaineers' biggest need these days is "to get healthy."

Konate was second in the NCAA in blocked shots last season and led the Big 12 in rebounding, while Bolden averaged nearly nine points while playing 37 games last season.

Huggins said neither has practiced "in quite a while," though both should be ready to go when the Mountaineers play their opener against Buffalo on Nov. 9.

Capel’s father told him he was crazy to coach

Pitt first-year coach Jeff Capel III first thought about becoming a coach when his playing days were winding down two decades ago. No less a coaching authority than Capel's father told him he was crazy.

Capel's dad, Jeff Capel II, was a longtime coach at Old Dominion.

Capel said Wednesday at ACC media day that his father "told me I was crazy." He added that his dad told him, "you should go to law school or something else."

The choice does not seem so crazy now.

Capel was head coach at VCU and Oklahoma. He also was an assistant at Duke from 2011-18 before taking over the Panthers.