Kansas basketball: Silvio De Sousa cleared to play

The Kansas basketball team is set to host the opening round of the Sunflower Showdown. The team received some great news on Silvio De Sousa.

Kansas basketball fans finally received some good news from the NCAA on Saturday morning. Just after 9:30CDT, the Kansas basketball twitter feed confirmed Silvio De Sousa will be in uniform and ready to play. The news on game day is great. It is even better since he will debut against the ‘Cats at Allen Fieldhouse.

The 6-foot-9 De Sousa arrived in Lawrence on December 26. As a matter of fact, the 18 days of waiting for the NCAA to free him seemed like 18 months. I don’t understand what takes so long or what the NCAA does in these situations. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter now. The  Jayhawks need bodies and they have a big one to help out on the front court.

I laughed when word first leaked that De Sousa might try to join the Jayhawks this season.  I never dreamed he might leave his high school team in Florida mid-season and come to Lawrence.  Nobody is laughing now. You have to give De Sousa a lot of credit for taking action and making this happen.

It will be interesting to see just how Hall of Fame coach Bill Self uses De Sousa against Kansas State. This takes a lot of pressure off Udokah Azubuike. On the other hand, it will cut into the playing time for last Saturday’s star Mitch Lightfoot. As long as De Sousa stays focused and plays defense, he should have an impact.

Next: Rob Riggle pokes fun at K-State

While Kansas basketball fans are thrilled for De Sousa, I am disappointed again for Billy Preston. I can’t imagine how he is taking all of this. The pre-Sunflower showdown news is great but only half as great as we had hoped.