Kansas Forward Silvio De Sousa Eligible for 2019-20 Season After Winning NCAA Appeal

Kansas's Silvio De Sousa is eligible to play in the upcoming season after sitting the 2018-19 season due to NCAA violations, the organization ruled Friday. The university announced shortly after the decision was released that De Sousa will return to school to play for the Jayhawks.

"I'm so excited to be able to come back to Kansas to play and to continue my education," De Sousa said. "It's an amazing feeling. I want to thank the NCAA committee for the opportunity to do what I really want to do. All those days and nights wondering what would happen...this makes it all worth it. I also want to thank everyone at Kansas for working so hard to make sure I can follow my dream. Jayhawk Nation, I can't thank you all enough for the unconditional support and for sticking around throughout this. I tried to turn the year off into a blessing. I got to work on my game and my academics, and now I'm going to make the most of this opportunity."

De Sousa had declared for the NBA draft in April while waiting for the result of his suspension appeal. The Jayhawks withheld De Sousa from competition beginning in October 2018, although he did practice with the team, while his eligibility was reviewed following the testimony of Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola during the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption, which incriminated De Sousa's guardian. Gassnola noted payments to De Sousa during an appearance in federal court.

The university attempted to regain De Sousa's eligibility in January. However, the NCAA ruled in February to suspend De Sousa for the remainder of the 2018–19 season and the entire 2019–20 season because of his guardian’s involvement with Gassnola. Kansas then submitted an appeal of the two-year suspension and stated that the freshman forward was "unaware of and from which he did not benefit" regarding any alleged NCAA violations.

The 6'9" forward said last month he would return to Kansas if his appeal was granted but would remain in the draft if not.

De Sousa, a former top-40 recruit, averaged 4.0 points and 8.4 minutes per game as a freshman in 2017–18. Kansas lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2019 to Auburn.