A handful of Twitter messages that surfaced Thursday suggesting that Class of 2018 power forward Silvio De Sousa had been authorized to join the Kansas basketball program in time for the second semester of the current season were not accurate, according to a source with knowledge of De Sousa’s recruitment.
But the Tweets, which came from what appears to be some kind of KU fan account and have since been deleted, were not completely unfounded.
[While announcing his commitment to Kansas to the Journal-World back in August,][1] De Sousa said then that he wanted to explore the idea of graduating from IMG Academy early in time to join the Jayhawks this season.
“Of course I want to play for my team in high school this year,” De Sousa told the Journal-World in August. “But if I get a chance to go straight to Kansas, I would love to just go to Kansas.”
Although IMG’s Facebook account posted a live video of De Sousa shown signing what appeared to be his letter of intent to Kansas on Wednesday — the first day of the early signing period — it’s not yet known whether De Sousa and his legal guardian Fenny Falmagne have signed the letter yet.
KU officials are unable to comment on anything regarding De Sousa until that letter is in hand and cleared through KU’s compliance office.
Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, De Sousa told the Journal-World he would be available sometime after school.
At this point, it’s hard to know whether De Sousa actually could complete the necessary academic steps to get to KU this season. But if it’s possible, adding the 6-foot-9, 245-pound power forward would be a huge boost for a thin Kansas front court and a roster that features just eight scholarship players who are eligible to play during the first semester.
Stay in touch with KUsports.com for updates on De Sousa’s situation.
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2017/aug/30/sources-ku-lands-commitment-5-star-2018-power-forw/
