Former Kansas Jayhawks forward Silvio De Sousa to play in NCAA Tournament
Former Kansas basketball forward Silvio De Sousa and his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga teammates will compete in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
De Sousa, a 6-foot-9 senior from Angola, scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds to lift Chattanooga to a 64-63 overtime victory in the finals of the Southern Conference Tournament on Monday in Asheville, North Carolina. The victory gave the Mocs the league’s automatic bid to the Big Dance.
David Jean-Baptiste hit a 30-foot game-winning three-pointer as time expired, and the Mocs (27-7) advanced to their first NCAA Tournament since 2016.
Jean-Baptiste’s three erased a 63-61 deficit. Mike Bothwell of Furman had hit a layup with 4 seconds left to put Furman ahead.
De Sousa, who played 31 minutes in Monday’s final, scored on a tip-in to give Chattanooga a 51-48 lead with 28 seconds left in regulation. Bothwell sent the game into OT by hitting a three on the final possession. Bothwell scored Furman’s first five points of overtime and hit the layup that could have been the game winner if not for Jean-Baptiste.
“Chattanooga at the buzzer!!!!!!! Can’t beat March Madness,” Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wrote on Twitter after the wild ending.
De Sousa entered the game averaging 10.8 points on 56.8% shooting and 6.7 rebounds per game. He entered the game 5 of 19 from three for 26.3%. De Sousa had a season-high 21 points against College of Charleston on Nov. 27. He had 20 points against Tennessee Wesleyan on Dec. 12. He also had 14 boards vs The Citadel on Jan. 8.
He played 38 games total at KU during the 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons. He averaged 4.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in 2017-18 when the Jayhawks reached the Final Four and 2.6 points and 2.8 boards in 2019-20.
De Sousa and KU coach Bill Self announced on Oct. 16, 2020 that De Sousa was leaving KU’s team to focus on “personal issues.”
He originally joined the Jayhawks midway through the 2017-18 season and helped KU reach the Final Four. He was forced to sit out the next season as eligibility questions emerged after his name surfaced in the FBI investigation into college basketball. He served a 12-game suspension in 2019-20 for his role in a brawl against Kansas State.
He was found not guilty by a Douglas County jury following a trial for felony aggravated battery on Aug. 5, 2021.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 9:40 PM.
