KU commitment Silvio De Sousa had the Jayhawks in mind for a long time

By Matt Tait     Aug 31, 2017

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IMG Academy's Silvio De Sousa #22 in action against Wasatch Academy during a high school basketball game at the 2017 Hoophall Classic on Sunday, January 15, 2017, in Springfield, MA. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

When Class of 2018 big man Silvio De Sousa arrived in Lawrence last weekend for his official campus visit, it marked the beginning of something for which the native of Angola had been waiting a long time.

The chance to play college basketball, De Sousa knew, would come in time and there was no doubt in his mind that he would have plenty of quality offers from first-class programs to mull over when making decision about where to attend school.

But there was always something about Kansas that stuck in De Sousa’s mind.

Perhaps it was the past success and buzz that surrounded former KU players Joel Embiid and Cheick Diallo, both African-born players who made a big impact during their lone seasons at Kansas and now are playing in the NBA.

> “I never got a chance to meet them,”
> De Sousa told the Journal-World on
> Wednesday of Embiid, who hails from
> Cameroon, and Diallo, who came to the
> U.S. from Mali. “But I know who they
> are and that’s one of the things that
> made me move on to Kansas. They had
> such great success there and it seemed
> to be a good fit for them.”

And while that did not hurt the way the 6-foot-9, 244-pound Angolan viewed the KU program, something more recent that took Lawrence by storm sparked in De Sousa visions of his name on the back of a KU jersey and him calling Lawrence home for a while.

> “I always looked forward to getting an
> offer from Kansas and ever since Josh
> Jackson committed to Kansas I told
> myself I could be the next
> one-and-done there,” De Sousa said
> Wednesday [after sharing the news that
> he had committed to KU.][1] “I had a
> lot of offers and stuff like that but
> I decided to keep quiet and just let
> everything come in time.”

That “everything” arrived earlier this year, when KU officially offered De Sousa a scholarship at the outset of the summer AAU season. And it reached an exciting conclusion when De Sousa committed to the Kansas coaches before he left town last Sunday.

Set to turn 19 on Oct. 7, De Sousa is not in any way new to basketball. He began playing at age 9 and, according to those who have seen him in action, has a feel for the game and versatile skill set that bring to mind thoughts of a polished prep standout.

ESPN broadcaster Fran Fraschilla — a former head coach at Manhattan, St. John’s and New Mexico — told the Journal-World this week that [De Sousa was “destined to play in the NBA,”][2] but the power forward who has been compared to former KU star Thomas Robinson and, going way back, to former Alabama beast Antonio McDyess, does not appear at all focused on anything other than what’s in front of him at Kansas.

> “I told Coach Bill (Self) Kansas
> is the place where I want to be and I
> made my decision when I was there,” De
> Sousa said Wednesday. “I met all of
> the team when I was there. I knew a
> couple of guys; we played against each
> other sometimes, with the national
> team, so I kind of knew them and they
> were real cool with me. They made me
> feel like I had been there for the
> past three years.”

With that vibe fresh in his mind, thoughts of Embiid and Diallo permanently planted there and the image of Jackson becoming a star and jumping to the NBA as the No. 4 overall pick in last June’s draft, the case for KU was too strong for De Sousa to pass up.

Asked if he would sum up his recruitment by saying that things worked out exactly the way he had hoped, De Sousa answered without hesitating.

> “It really did,” he said. “I’m excited
> to get to Kansas.”

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2017/aug/30/sources-ku-lands-commitment-5-star-2018-power-forw/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2017/aug/30/a-closer-look-at-new-kansas-commitment-s/

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.