Kansas to hold De Sousa out pending investigation
Kansas City, Mo. — Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa was benched indefinitely by the top-ranked Jayhawks on Wednesday after his name surfaced in testimony connected with the corruption scandal rocking college basketball.
The 6-foot-9 De Sousa, one of the Jayhawks' top rebounders, is out while the school and NCAA look into his eligibility. He could miss a good chunk — or perhaps all — of the regular season, which begins with a high-profile game against No. 10 Michigan State on Nov. 6 in Indianapolis.
"The timetable is unknown," coach Bill Self said.
Self spoke just a few hours before a jury in federal court in New York convicted former Adidas executive James Gato, Adidas consultant Merl Code and NBA agent runner Christian Dawkins of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The trio had been accused of funneling money from the apparel company to the families of recruits at Kansas, Louisville and its other sponsored schools — and the trial was closely watched across the sport as big names came up in court.
Ex-AAU coach T.J. Gassnola testified that he facilitated payments to De Sousa's guardian in an attempt to steer him toward the Jayhawks. Those payments would have rendered the native of Angola ineligible to play for the Jayhawks. Gassnola said Self and his staff did not know about the payments.
"Information was presented during the current trial in New York — some of which we knew, some of which we didn't," Self said before the verdict was announced. "We have decided to withhold Silvio from competition until we can evaluate and understand the new information. We have already discussed trial developments with the NCAA and will continue to work with NCAA staff moving forward."
De Sousa graduated from IMG Academy last December, joined the Jayhawks for the spring semester and provided valuable interior depth as the school made a deep March run. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds while helping Kansas beat West Virginia for the Big 12 Tournament title, then appeared in every game while helping the Jayhawks reach the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.
De Sousa was at his best in the Elite Eight, when he had four points and 10 rebounds while playing 26 minutes in a victory over Duke that sent the Jayhawks into a showdown with Villanova.
Self said during the Jayhawks' local media day two weeks ago that he was planning for De Sousa to play this season, and De Sousa himself declared, "I know I'm going to play."
That was just as the trial began for Gatto, during which text messages presented by defense attorneys indicated Self and Kansas assistant Kurtis Townsend may have been aware that Gassnola helped to deliver money to De Sousa's guardian, Fenny Falmagne, to pay for online classes and get out of a pay-for-pay scheme that had been brokered with Maryland. De Sousa committed to the Jayhawks a few days after the text messages.
University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod and Kansas athletic director Jeff Long said the school is awaiting clearance from the Justice Department before it begins working with the NCAA to review information presented at trial. Kansas also intends to review the eligibility of all its athletes.