By ADAM ZAGORIA
Kansas announced Thursday that sophomore forward Silvio de Sousa will not participate in the Jayhawks’ exhibition game Thursday night vs. Emporia State and will be withheld from competition pending the outcome of an eligibility review.
“Information was presented during the current trial in New York – some of which we knew, some of which we didn’t,” said KU basketball coach Bill Self. “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.”
At the Adidas trial here in New York, Thomas “T.J.” Gassnola testfied that he paid de Sousa’s trainer, Fenny Falmagne, $2,500 for online courses, but did not pay him the $20,000 that Falmagne requested to help get him out from under a $60,000 loan given to him by a Maryland booster.
De Sousa committed to Kansas on Aug. 30, 2017. Self had a five-minute phone conversation with Adidas executive Jim Gatto a day later, during a time the FBI was wiretapping Gatto, but the conversation was not recorded because of a “technical issue.”
De Sousa averaged 4 points and 3.7 rebounds in 20 games as a freshman last season. He joined KU in December 2017 after graduating in three-and-a-half years from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
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“Kansas’ head coach knew of and asked for a payment to be made to Silvio De Sousa’s handler,” Gatto’s attorney, Michael Schacter, said during the trial. “Coach Self and Coach (Kurtis) Townsend knew of and asked for this payment to be made to Fenny.
He added: “Coach Self, in T.J. Gassnola’s mind, speaks for Kansas, and Kansas wants Adidas to help Kansas recruit players. Nike does the same thing for their schools, and if Adidas doesn’t do the same, they’re going to lose their schools to Nike.”
