KU ‘has a right to be furious.’ National reaction to De Sousa suspension from NCAA

The NCAA on Friday ruled that Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa must miss the remainder of this season and all of 2019-20 “because his guardian received payment from a university booster and agent and agreed to receive additional funds from the same person.

Reaction to the NCAA’s decision reverberated through the college basketball world, and most thought the NCAA had unfairly punished De Sousa.

National observers offered their analysis and this is what they were saying:

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports wrote a column with the headline, “NCAA’s unfair 2-year suspension for Silvio De Sousa shows that players, not coaches or schools, are treated harshest.”

Here is an excerpt of what Norlander wrote: “It’s hard to square how the NCAA’s decision-makers responsible for rulings like this can truly be satisfied with what they did to De Sousa. It feels vengeful, nasty. It feels like there has to be a better way.

“But it also feels like the NCAA is incapable of changing it, even if it wants to. The coaches and programs can wait. We’ll just have to see when and if their time comes. The players are the ones forced to take the worst first.”

Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports tweeted: “By suspending Silvio de Sousa this year and next, the NCAA is essentially forcing him out of college basketball for something his guardian did and he likely knew nothing about. That doesn’t seem right.

“There had to be a significant punishment for de Sousa — otherwise you’re practically telling schools to cheat and have the player claim ignorance — but the full 2018-19 season seems like enough. Two years is awfully harsh.”

Ricky O’Donnell of SB Nation wrote a piece with the headline, “Bill Self was right to hammer the NCAA after banning Silvio De Sousa for 2 years.”

Here is a snippet: “The NCAA isn’t the cops, but it likes to believe it is. It made an example out of De Sousa with this ruling, hoping to avoid similar situations involving players, universities and shoe companies in the future. Guess what: as long as the NCAA continues to bar college athletes from being compensated with something greater than a scholarship for their labor, a black market will always exist.”

ESPN’s Dick Vitale tweeted: “The @NCAA just amazes me with how long they take to rule on issues such as Silvio DeSouza . ⁦@KUHoops⁩ has a right to be furious.”

Jeff Goodman, a basketball analyst for Stadium.com, tweeted: “I would be SHOCKED if Silvio De Sousa had any clue that his guardian was taking money. NCAA needs to get a clue on some of these decisions. Just crushing kids instead of trying to help them.”

ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla tweeted: “There are no coaches I’ve communicated with that are surprised by NCAA’s DeSousa decision tonight. Personally, I wish NCAA had decided on this case sooner & not left everyone hanging. Adults ruined this opportunity for the young man.”

This story was originally published February 2, 2019 at 12:25 PM.