KU’s De Sousa asks for reinstatement

Silvio De Sousa’s attorney Thursday asked the NCAA to reinstate Kansas sophomore forward immediately.

The Kansas City Star reported that Kansas declared De Sousa ineligible this week, formally acknowledging that a violation took place, and submitted a request to the NCAA for reinstatement.

“Silvio has cooperated fully with the investigation,” attorney Scott Tompsett said in a statement. “He came to the U.S. from Angola at 15, and he did everything he was ... asked to become eligible. Silvio followed the rules. He did nothing wrong.

“If adults did something ... against the rules, they did it without Silvio’s knowledge or involvement. ... It’s time for the NCAA to be fair to Silvio and immediately reinstate his eligibility.”

There was no explanation for why Kansas ruled De Sousa ineligible. But Adidas representative T.J. Gassnola said at a federal trial he gave $2,500 to De Sousa’s guardian, Fenny Falmagne, so De Sousa could enroll in an online course to assure early graduation from IMG Academy and eligibility at Kansas.

Gassnola also testified that he gave Falmagne $2,500 so De Sousa could take the online classes.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told The Athletic that starting point guard Tre Jones may return sooner than expected from a separated right shoulder.

Jones suffered the injury early in Monday night’s overtime loss to Syracuse.

The No. 1 Blue Devils later announced that Jones would be out indefinitely.

He’s unlikely to play against No. 2 Virginia on Saturday.