Bill Self reports no change in Silvio De Sousa’s status heading into Friday’s game
There’s been no change in Kansas sophomore Silvio De Sousa’s playing status heading into the third game of the regular season — Friday’s NIT Tip-Off Classic preliminary round contest against Louisiana — KU coach Bill Self said Wednesday on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
De Sousa, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Angola, has been practicing but has been held out of two exhibition games and the first two regular-season games while both KU and the NCAA look into his eligibility.
De Sousa’s recruitment was discussed in a recent federal trial relating to corruption in college basketball.
“Wheels are in motion, but the status hasn’t changed,” Self said in response to a question from a radio show caller asking about the possibility of the big man red-shirting this season.
“I guess it could be (possible). I don’t think that Silvio, in my personal opinion, would be a guy that would be in college for five years with his talent level. So I don’t know if that would be the case. The status hasn’t changed, and it’s still preliminary. I certainly hope we can have him back soon, but the answer to the question: I guess it is a possibility (to red-shirt), but I don’t think it’s a realistic possibility, at least right now, unless there’s some things that transpire differently than what we know to be as we speak right now.”
Self said “no,” when asked if he receives daily updates on the review of De Sousa’s eligibility status.
“If there’s an update I’ll get an update,” Self said. “But there hasn’t been a lot of updates and understandably so with the situation. We know that it wasn’t going to happen immediately. Now that we’ve gotten past immediately, now we’re hoping it happens immediately now — since we’ve had a little bit of water under the bridge over time,” he added.
McCormack’s minutes to increase?
KU freshman forward David McCormack played five minutes in a 92-87 season-opening win over Michigan State, then did not enter Monday’s 84-68 victory over Vermont.
“We’ve got to get David in there,” Self said. “I need to do a better job getting him in there, even though it’s going to be hard to play guys when our big guys are not in foul trouble and the other team plays small.
“Is Dedric (Lawson, 6-9 forward) better guarding the 4 or Marcus (Garrett, 6-5 guard) better guarding the 4? If that’s the case,” he added of Garrett guarding the 4 more effectively than a big man, “then Dedric and Doke (7-footer Udoka Azubuike) may not play as much together but they’ll back each other up.
“That kind of eliminates Mitch (Lightfoot, 6-9 forward) and David in some ways. That’s one good thing about depth. You can play to your opponent game in and game out for the most part,” Self added.
Vick’s accurate night revisited
Senior guard Lagerald Vick, who hit eight three-pointers in eight tries against Vermont, set a school record for most threes without a miss in a single game.
His toe barely touched the three-point line on two long-range shots.
“What Lagerald did the other night was a joke, a joke,” Self exclaimed of the 6-foot-5 Memphis native scoring 32 points on 12-of-14 shooting.
“I was curious to see … what’s the most anybody has made without missing? Obviously the two didn’t count. His toe was on the line. I’m sure somebody has done better (nationally) than 8-for-8. I’m not sure anybody’s done better than 10-for-10,” Self added.
A check of the NCAA stat book shows one player — George Mason’s Andre Smith — going 10-for-10 from three in a single game. He was 10-of-10 against James Madison on Jan. 19, 2008.
Most consecutive threes in a season is 15 by Northwestern’s Todd Leslie over four games from Dec. 15-28, 1990. Vick would have to hit his next seven treys to tie, eight to pass Leslie.
No more signees until spring?
KU on Wednesday announced the signing of guards Christian Braun and Issac McBride to national letters-of-intent.
“We don’t know if we’ll announce anything else this early period. The guys we are primarily recruiting now, I think most likely will wait until after this period is over to make a decision,” Self said.
The early signing period runs until next Wednesday.
“Of course there could be some unforeseen things take place. It seems there is all the time (but) that’s the way the families are talking as of this moment.”
KU has filled its scholarship allotment for next season, however, the Jayhawks will continue recruiting since they are expecting some non-seniors to turn pro. Blue-chippers Matthew Hurt, Zeke Nnaji, James Wiseman, Precious Achiuwa and Kofi Cockburn are some players still considering KU who likely will sign in the spring.
Gary Bedore
Gary Bedore covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.
This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 8:27 PM.