KU players on De Sousa’s absence, Self on possible redshirt, more from Big 12 media day

Kansas junior Dedric Lawson says he’s confident his frontcourt teammate, Silvio De Sousa, will play basketball for the Jayhawks this season.

“The truth will come out. Silvio says that all the time,” Lawson, KU’s 6-foot-9 junior forward from Memphis, said Wednesday at Big 12 men’s basketball media day in the Sprint Center.

It was announced early Wednesday morning, shortly after Lawson, Lagerald Vick, Udoka Azubuike and coach Bill Self entered the downtown Kansas City arena, that De Sousa, KU’s 6-9, 245-pound sophomore power forward from Angola, would be held out of Thursday’s 7 p.m. exhibition opener against Emporia State at Allen Fieldhouse as an eligibility review is conducted.

If the “truth” means De Sousa’s guardian, Fenny Falmagne, committed no NCAA violations during his recruitment, DeSousa could be deemed eligible for participation at some point in the future.

“I know he’s been going through a little trial. I just tell him to stay focused. I try to be there for him,” Lawson said of De Sousa, who was informed by Self of the school’s decision to hold him out of Thursday’s exhibition game on Tuesday night. Lawson, meanwhile, learned of the decision Wednesday morning “at 9:30, I think it was 9:31 on Twitter.”

“Silvio is a humble guy. We talk all the time,” Lawson added. “Last night at team meal he had a clear mind. He was in good spirits. The last two weeks he has been one of our best players at practice.”

Off the court, De Sousa’s recruitment has been the subject of testimony in a federal trial in New York related to corruption in college hoops.

During the trial, Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola testified that he gave Falmagne $2,500 so De Sousa could take online classes to make him eligible for competition last season at KU.

Gassnola also said he originally offered $20,000 to Falmagne to help repay $60,000 given to him from a Maryland booster; Gassnola said he never paid it, though, he was cautious because of the FBI’s investigation into college basketball.

“Information was presented during the current trial in New York — some of which we knew, some of which we didn’t,” Self said Wednesday in announcing the decision to sit De Sousa. “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.”

Self said De Sousa was not pleased to hear the news Tuesday.

“Silvio knew this could happen but we wanted to wait as long as we possibly could to determine if in fact the trial would be over so therefore maybe we would be told how the process would take place concerning his eligibility for Thursday,” Self said. “He also knows if it’s not complete it’ll be longer than that. He’s a kid who has put in his time. He now feels sad because he has something taken away from him that obviously he did not anticipate being taken away.

“He’s a big boy too. We deal with this stuff, not on a constant basis, but eligibility issues are very commonplace in college athletics. Guys have to deal with it.”

Self said he’s confident De Sousa will play basketball for KU again.

“I don’t see a scenario where I won’t coach him,” Self said.

He did acknowledge De Sousa would not have been a starter against Emporia, but would have earned minutes off the bench.

“Dedric (Lawson) and Udoka (Azubuike) have solidified themselves as starting bigs,” Self said, noting Vick would also likely start Thursday with the other two starting slots undecided at this time. Self said he’d likely have two different starting lineups for the Emporia and Washburn exhibitions.

“It will affect the rotation a bit. It’s a thing where you could plug in Silvio. You obviously can plug in David (McCormack) as well. We have an opportunity to play small maybe with K.J. (Lawson) at the 4. We have enough bodies and guys you could plug in somebody right now. I don’t see it as a huge negative. I do see it as not having a good player at our disposal Thursday or however long it’d be based on the review.”

Self said he was definitely “looking forward to coaching Silvio in games. That doesn’t mean I’m positively going to or (have) a timeline in which I will. I just don’t know the details of the case so it’s hard for me to comment,” he added noting the timeline, “is probably in the NCAAs hands far more than it is the university … who knows what will have to go into the review in order to come to an answer.”

Self said this would “have no effect on our team except we won’t have Silvio for the first time (this season). He’ll continue to practice. It’s our first time we’ll be without a player one day (the team has been injury free at practice thus far).”

KU junior center Azubuike said he’ll miss De Sousa’s presence on the court versus the Hornets.

“The past couple weeks he’s played very well at practice,” Azubuike said. “He has played with so much energy.”

As far as the bigs eligible to take the court against Emporia State … Self reaffirmed Wednesday that Lawson was the best passer he’s coached in 16 seasons at KU. He listed Julian Wright and Aaron Miles as contenders for runner-up honors.

“He has vision and has touch. He can see a couple passes ahead,” Self said of Lawson. “His IQ and skill is off the charts. He has what Danny (Manning) had. Danny had a sixth sense passing the ball especially from the interior. He has some of that. His ability to see and pass even if it’s just from the high post area is something the game (of basketball) needs.”

Self also praised McCormack noting, “he’s changed practice (because of the intensity he brings). He goes after every ball.”

Notes

• Self said it is possible a player or two could redshirt this season. “Ochai (Agbaji) could be a possibility,” Self said of the freshman wing. He is allowed to play Thursday even if he ultimately is redshirted. “I’ve not talked to him about that. You could make a case do you redshirt a big since we have five?,” Self added.
• Self was asked about working with new KU athletic director Jeff Long: “I think we hired a pro and certainly Jeff and the chancellor from my standpoint have been very supportive about what’s transpired. I visit with Jeff every day. I certainly feel very good about his leadership, his vision and direction and the job he’s going to do. Of course part of the job he’s doing right now is dealing with this. There’s nothing that’s transpired that’s taken anything away from what I thought he’d be for us. As a matter of fact it’s probably been enhanced.”

Gary Bedore

Gary Bedore covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.

This story was originally published October 24, 2018 at 4:41 PM.