An all-out brawl broke out at the end of Tuesday night’s Kansas-Kansas State game in Lawrence. The melee happened after Kansas big man Silvio De Sousa emphatically rejected a meaningless layup from Kansas State’s DeJuan Gordon in the final seconds of an 81-59 game (Kansas won 81-60). According to Spin Rider, it became a wild brawl into the seating area behind the basket, with De Sousa even getting ready to swing a stool in WWE fashion before a Kansas assistant coach stopped him.
On Wednesday, Jayhawks head coach Bill Self announced that Kansas is suspending De Sousa indefinitely.
Self: "I have suspended Silvio De Sousa indefinitely pending the final outcome of the review by KU and the Big 12 Conference. As I said last night, we are disappointed in his actions and there is no place in the game for that behavior.”
— Gary Bedore (@GaryBedore) January 22, 2020
And that was followed by the Big 12 handing down suspensions. The conference issued four suspensions, with De Sousa (obviously) having the harshest penalty at 12 games.
JUST IN: The Big 12 has announced suspensions for the Kansas/Kansas State altercation last night. pic.twitter.com/GSXtcnpkc9
— Stadium (@Stadium) January 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/Kyle__Boone/status/1220122316132311041
So, De Sousa is suspended *at least* 12 games, and potentially more if Kansas decides to increase the punishment. Frankly, he would be lucky to be allowed to play at all the rest of this season (and would be in significantly larger trouble if he connected with that chair, of course). ESPN’s Dick Vitale said on Tuesday night that De Sousa “never, ever should put a uniform on in college basketball again.”
De Sousa and Self released statements after the Big 12’s decision.
I’m sorry for my actions last night, please read this: pic.twitter.com/cmkEO0I5Ax
— Silvio De Sousa ™ (@SilvioDeSousa5) January 23, 2020
A statement from Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
More → https://t.co/AeLp5a6hld pic.twitter.com/4axwjHNXBi
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) January 23, 2020
