Kansas forward Silvio de Sousa opts out, leaves basketball program

De Sousa earned eligibility to join Kansas in January 2018 and averaged 4.0 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 68.1 percent in 8.8 minutes per game in his debut season. He sat the entire 2018-19 campaign, however, after he was linked in an FBI probe into college basketball corruption. De Sousa won an appeal in May 2019 and was cleared for the following season. 

He once again generated negative headlines last January, though, when he taunted Kansas State's DaJuan Gordon following a massive rejection and sparked a brawl between the teams. De Sousa threw multiple punches and ultimately received a 12-game suspension for his actions. 

"This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated and these suspensions reflect the severity of last evening's events," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in a prepared statement, per ESPN. "I am appreciative of the cooperation of both institutions in resolving this matter."

De Sousa apologized for the incident via Twitter: 

David Cobb of CBS Sports shared a statement from Kansas coach Bill Self about De Sousa's opt-out: 

"Today, Silvio informed me he was going to opt out of the 2020-21 season and focus on matters in his personal life. Knowing Silvio, it was clear he had been distracted and not fully focused during workouts as of late. After he and I sat down and talked about that, it was clear this was the best decision for him, and Kansas basketball, to leave the program. At some point in the future, Silvio will decide what his next steps will be and where that will take him. Silvio has worked very hard during his time here and we have stood by him throughout, but we fully understand his reasoning to take time away from basketball. We support his decision and wish him nothing but success moving forward."