NCAA rules Kansas’ Silvio De Sousa will be eligible next season

The Kansas Jayhawks are getting Silvio De Sousa back for the 2019-20 season.

On Friday, the NCAA announced that De Sousa would be eligible for the upcoming season following an appeal of their previous ruling, which was a two-year ban that already cost him all of the 2018-19 season, as well as next season.

The issue of why De Sousa was ineligible comes from ADIDAS consultant T.J. Gassnola, who testified that he personally gave $2,500 to the guardian of De Sousa. While Kansas has denied any knowledge of wrongdoing by their staff or De Sousa, they held him out of competition while his eligibility is in question for much of last season until the NCAA issued its ruling in February.

Here is the NCAA’s release on the ruling:

De Sousa is one of many current and former college players being dragged into the investigation, as he (or someone around him) may have received payments during his high school recruitment. It also looks like Self may have known what was going on.

De Sousa, who played a big role in helping Kansas make the Final Four in the 2017-18 season, averaged four points and 3.7 rebounds in 20 games with the Jayhawks as a midseason enrollee. However, he played a bigger role down the stretch, including a 16-point, 10-rebound performance vs. West Virginia in the Big 12 Championship Game.

If the Jayhawks get back Quentin Grimes and Devon Doton — who are testing the NBA Draft process — and land uncommitted top-10 recruit RJ Hampton, they’ll have a very strong case for the preseason No. 1 ranking next season.