David McCormack, Devon Dotson, and Silvio De Sousa Sign With Kansas | Zagsblog
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Thursday / March 28.
  • David McCormack, Devon Dotson, and Silvio De Sousa Sign With Kansas

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    Center David McCormack and guard Devon Dotson both signed National Letters of Intent to play at Kansas on Saturday. On Monday, big man Silvio De Sousa also signed his National Letter of Intent with the Jayhawks.

    The 6-10 McCormack out of Oak Hill Academy (VA) committed in September over Xavier, Oklahoma State, and N.C. State. He is ranked No. 33 by ESPN.com.

    “David is guy who caught our eye early on,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of McCormack, who was a teammate of current Jayhawk Billy Preston at Oak Hill last year. “There are many things that impressed us about him and the more we watched, the more we liked. As he got older, we fell in love with his effort, his attitude and his discipline. David is a guy, on his own, that has lost 50 pounds by eating right, changing his diet and doing proper exercise. He’s transformed his game and his body into something that I feel like will be one of the more prepared bodies that anyone can recruit in college basketball.”

    McCormack averaged 10.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a game at Oak Hill his junior season and 14.8 points (on 60 percent shooting) and 9.8 rebounds for Team Loaded AAU last spring and summer. McCormack played for Norfolk (Va.) Academy his sophomore year of high school.

    “He’s 6-10 and can play both big spots, the power forward or center type position,” Self said. “He’s got good skills and we think the sky is the limit on what he can become as well. When you look at big bodies that we’ve had, David has a body like Thomas (Robinson) but he reminds me of a Darnell Jackson early in his career in that he can definitely shoot, he can pass but he’ll do most of his work near the basket. Jerrance (Howard) did a wonderful job with David and his family.”

    The 6-2 Dotson from Providence Day School (N.C.) committed in October and also considered Maryland. He is ranked No. 26 by ESPN.com.

    “We recruited three or four lead guards in the country this past year knowing all the perimeter players that we’ll be losing,” Self said. “We felt like Devon had the highest ceiling of the guys that we were recruiting. He’s an explosive athlete. He’s very unselfish. He can make plays for others but he also has plenty of explosiveness that he can make plays for himself. And even though they are different type players, in some ways he will remind people of Frank (Mason III) because of his ability to get into the lane and make plays for himself and make plays for others.”

    As a junior, Dotson averaged 24.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game at Providence Day School for coach Brian Field. In 2016-17, the Chargers won their fifth-straight CISAA conference title and were nationally ranked for the fourth-consecutive season. As a sophomore, Dotson helped guide Providence Day to the 3A state championship. This past summer, Dotson averaged 19.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game for Team Charlotte AAU.

    “Devon has got good size and is one of the most explosive guards we’ve had since I have been here at Kansas,” Self said. “Norm (Roberts) was the coach who was the point man on Devon.”

    Ranked by 247Sports as the No. 31 player in the 247Sports national rankings, De Sousa plays for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The 6-foot-9, 245-point Luanda, Angola, native has been living in Florida for nearly four years.

    “He has great size for a true four-type man,” Self said. “He’s very explosive and at one time, a couple years ago, was rated a top-five player in his class. Not participating in the summer grassroots stuff as much over the past year, his rankings have dropped a little bit, but we feel like he’s a top-five talent.”

    Last season, De Sousa averaged 13.0 points and a 7.0 rebounds for IMG Academy and shot 61 percent from the floor. IMG went 28-2 and lost in the quarterfinals of the Dick’s High School National Championship.

    This past summer, De Sousa represented Angola in the FIBA AfroBasket 2017 in Tunis, Tunisia, where his team advanced to the quarterfinals and he led Angola with 17.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game and shot 51 percent from the field. Prior to his FIBA competition, De Sousa averaged 20.5 points and 8.2 rebounds for his AAU team, the Florida Vipers this past summer. In 2016, De Sousa was named the most valuable player of the FIBA Africa Championship.

    “Coach [KurtisTownsend has been the point man on recruiting Silvio,” Self said. “He’s a guy who can provide immediate help the first day he steps on campus. He plays hard and goes after the ball, which reminds me of Markieff (Morris) when he first got to Kansas. He’s a guy who can give you points and rebounds early in his career and we feel he has the potential to become a good perimeter shooter.”

    Photo: Team Loaded

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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