DeSousa
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Should we call in a chit from Cal and have him not know about a Memphis alum arranging a surrogate test taker for de Sousa to help get de Sousa eligible for KU?
Just joking!!!
Really!
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Today was a big day for De Sousa and Solinski. If De Sousa passes the test and can play later this month, Solinski probably won’t be needed.
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Just read today that DeSousa has to do better on his standardized test. Not a sure thing.
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So when do you think KU will know the results of his tests?
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@Gorilla72 what is the exact test he took?
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As I understand it, it’s not the SAT or ACT, but a test to correlate his high school grades. Apparently to verify he learned what he was supposed to overseas. Something of a sliding scale -good grades mean a lower score is acceptable and vice-versa. I’ve not seen the name of the test mentioned in any article or post.
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It’s either the SAT or ACT. Have to have one, coupled with your GPA, to be a full qualifier to play NCAA sports.
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@FarmerJayhawk how quickly do they inform you of the results?
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@FarmerJayhawk, I don’t believe the ACT or SAT were offers either weekend. Per TOS.
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Those are the only 2 the NCAA accepts. It’s usually a couple weeks last I knew. But I haven’t brushed up in quite awhile. It may be faster now.
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Regarding the test, the Topeka CJ refers to it as a “standardized test”. He’s taken it once and apparently he didn’t score well. Hence, he’s taking it again. I dunno, but don’t think it’s the SAT or ACT. ??? http://cjonline.com/sports/hawkzone/2017-11-09/ku-basketball-commit-silvio-de-sousa-seeking-ncaa-approval-play-year
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FarmerJayhawk said:
Those are the only 2 the NCAA accepts. It’s usually a couple weeks last I knew. But I haven’t brushed up in quite awhile. It may be faster now.
2 weeks seems too optimistic- wonder if he puts KU down to receive the score or if he can put the NCAA down to receive it directly?
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@Bwag both have institution codes you can put down when you sign up for the test where they’ll get the score when the student does.
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What we know so far. DeSousa, because of when he started school in his native country, is eligible to apply for admission to KU. The school has rules for admission but also has a wide latitude to override said rules and admit the candidate on a hardship basis. No problem there.
DeSousa needs to cleared by the NCAA to play sports at KU and it has fairly strict rules and, as I understand, very little leeway. DeSousa took one of the required tests (name is not important) and apparently did not score high enough to qualify, whether it was to validate grades or show college aptitude is again, irrelevant. The bottom line is he apparently did nor score high enough. Problem here.
DeSousa took the test again with the hope the second time around he will score higher and qualify and it will take at least a couple of weeks to know the results. Based on the test results he will either come to KU and be eligible to join the team and play, come to KU and not be eligible to play and just get a head start on academics and, if allowed, practice with the team or just stay at his prep school the rest of the academic year.
I am not sure if KU/NCAA can request an expedited release of the test score, but until such time when the results are available, there is really nothing anyone can do or speculate on DeSousa’s situation.
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I believe De Sousa took either the ACT or SAT test… whichever one is the basic admittance exam for KU. His score was just below qualifying. I don’t think the admissions bar on this is set by the NCAA. I just think it is the standards set by the Kansas Board of Regents for admission into KU.
I could be wrong… but if this is the case, good chance De Sousa fulfills his admittance requirements on round 2!
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@drgnslayr KU takes both. They’d admit De Sousa in a heartbeat if he was eligible, regardless of KU’s written requirements. I believe the NCAA’s are higher.
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Admission to KU is dictated , well…by KU and it is free to override the rules and accept the student as a hardship case and there is nothing the NCAA or Conference can do about it. However, to be ruled eligible to play is regulated by the NCAA and the Conference and here is where the problem lays. DeSousa can be admitted to KU and not permitted to play; I believe Jamari and Ben McLemore, among others, had the same issue.
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If he isn’t NCAA eligible I would think they’d want to have him finish at IMG so he could have all his eligibility and be ready to go first semester at KU.
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drgnslayr said:
I believe De Sousa took either the ACT or SAT test… whichever one is the basic admittance exam for KU. His score was just below qualifying. I don’t think the admissions bar on this is set by the NCAA. I just think it is the standards set by the Kansas Board of Regents for admission into KU.
I could be wrong… but if this is the case, good chance De Sousa fulfills his admittance requirements on round 2!
I can’t find the article now but one I read had an explanation that made some sense to me. It boiled down to that the score he needs isn’t necessarily for admittance to KU but it is to show he has learned the material that on record he has been taught to allow his transcripts to be accepted by the NCAA. So if he has on his HS transcripts he has studied Quantum Physics (ok so maybe a poor example) his ACT/SAT test score should reflect that he has a reasonable amount of knowledge in that field. Basically it is a down and dirty way to double check transcripts from schools, and along the way makes sure the student paid attention to the class.
My question is do they do this from athletes from all schools or only ones not accredited in the US?
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All foreign records require several levels of certification before they get to the NCAA. Locally, all non-accredited school and the so called “basketball factories” or sports prep schools that are in the NCAA “watch list” also receive addional scrutiny because the education they provide many times does not meet even the minimum standards for core subject that is very low. Applicants from most accredited public schools or quality private schools, such as most of the Catholics HS, that have completed the core requirements sail through the process without a hitch.
I posted the number before during the Diallo fiasco and if I recall correctly, the NCAA processes all over 100,000 applications per year and only a tiny fraction of those get the “Diallo” type of delay. In DeSousa’s case the issue seems fairly simple, his required test score is not high enough. He can either retake the test like he is doing or do remedial work for one year (Jamari, McLemore) before becoming eligible.
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@JayHawkFanToo Don’t remind me of the Diallo stuff – I never again want to post about NCAA portholes, or links to a school’s curriculum, and what the NCAA has flagged as class that doesn’t comply. Ugh.
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If Cunliffe is the only mid-season eligible player to play coming up man that’s going to be some depressing crap!
All that anticipation for Preston and then De Sousa and then nothing?? Obviously we expect both situations to have clarity and positive outcomes. Waiting sucks
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If it’s just Cunliffe it’s really going to be a battle all year. Not every coach will be as dumb as Boeheim if and when Clay Young goes out there.
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BShark said:
If it’s just Cunliffe it’s really going to be a battle all year. Not every coach will be as dumb as Boeheim if and when Clay Young goes out there.
At least we’ll have 5 more fouls with Cunliffe. Taller, athletic. Self will have to get creative with Marcus and Sam
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Yeah, I’ll take Billy please!
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Athletes still have to clear the same admission bar that all other students have to clear.
ACT/SAT scores are part of the equation for admission.
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I believe the minimum acceptable ACT score is a 16 which is really bad. You get a 10 just for putting your name on the form…
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Even if Preston was eligible, it is shocking how thin we are in the post. We have a pretend PF in Lightfoot as a back up, and that’s it. We relied on three transfers for possible depth and they all bolted – Evan Maxwell, Jack Whitman, and Dwight Coleby.
We don’t talk about it a lot, because we love to praise Bill Self – but, as of now, this is a huge failure by coach Self. Perhaps one of the biggest of this tenure at KU. Leaving us this dangerously thin.
But failure is of course dependent on failure on the court. We’re 7-0. There’s no failure there. And it can only fairly be judged at the end of the season.
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There are things that are well beyond the coaching staff control. Once Preston signed other players saw too much competition and bolted and had Preston not signed I would think KU had other prospects that might have signed instead.
If I recall correctly, there was a concern about Preston clearing the NCAA and who would have thought that after he was cleared an unrelated issue like this would surface? Should KU run background checks on prospects, families and friends and hire PIs to do further digging? I think not. With Preston playing there are no issues. Can’t really blame Coach Self for this particular issue.
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@JayHawkFanToo First, I’m making my criticism even assuming we have Preston, as I had noted. Even with Preston, we are still dangerously thin. Preston’s issues could just as easily be a broken ankle, or other injury. Or it could be an injury to Doke. With Preston, we were dangerously thin.
I really disagree on the “can’t really blame Coach Self for this particular issue.” This is right at his doorstep. It’s his job. Self did not recruit and secure non-transfers to be foundational players. He relied upon the ever tenuous transfer players. Further, Bill Self made the choice on the three transfers that bolted. He failed on all three counts as all three turned out to be unreliable. The results (just as win-losses, etc., do) bear that out.
I think the Preston issue is a good distinction. Assuming of course Self had no inkling on Preston’s issues, this is much different than the Diallo academic mess. Diallo was buyer beware. No one rational would have simply assumed eligibility given that mess. It was a reasonable gamble given the late signing (Diallo). Preston appears, as you say, to be a surprise. You can’t really hire PIs.
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Again, you cannot place an order for the ideal transfer players, you have to take from what is available and the ones he got were coveted transfers. Coleby played well below expectation last season and there was no indication of improvement like we have seen as his new destination. He wanted and needed extended playing time if he has any hope of getting to the next levels and, if Preston is playing and the 'stache is producing, his playing time would have been very limited. It was the right move for Coleby and I don’t believe there was much Coach Self could offer to keep him.
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@JayHawkFanToo You said, “Again, you cannot place an order for the ideal transfer players.” I did not see that you said that before. But I agree.
You ignore the undeniable fact that Bill Self did not have non-transfer players on the roster in the first place. The cupboard was very bare on that count. That’s Self’s deal. Second, you ignore that Bill Self chose to add the transfers. His call. All fall in the category of Bill Self’s fault, it’s the degree of fault we’re quibbling about. Of course, when things work out, it’s Bill Self that gets the credit, a fact of which most rarely quarrel with, since he’s the boss.
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No doubt we’re thin because we failed in the recruiting front with Big’s. We targeted a lot of guys we probably had no chance in landing. There might have been a few we should have landed (ala Ayton) along the way.
Whatever the case may be we might not have the offense we have currently if we didn’t miss on post players and adapt our team to a perimeter attack. Winning cures everything and so far winning is all we know.
Next year we shouldn’t have that issue. Heck we might get rid of the issue coming up if things fall our way
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Well, even if he eventually gets cleared, I am mighty disgruntled regarding B. Preston, his placing the program under the microscope of those who investigate or bray, IMPROPRIETY. Leaves us to wonder if the coaching staff actually took another gamble on a BIG with baggage. Or maybe the Preston clan was just careless with the rules? A sad first semester scenario, whatever. In an ideal world, Doke stays for another season; Preston departs as an NBA gamble. Even if he roars onto the court as a springtime savior in key survival contests, I am not likely to work up enthusiasm for Billy the Jayhawk. No, I really don’t KNOW HIM.
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I don’t believe the transfer were his first choice but what was available at the time. As good a program as KU is, it is hard to compete with the programs on the Coasts, particularly the East Coast that gets all the hype or the West Coast with the California glamour. In comparison, small Mid West towns are pretty boring and not really attractive to the urban prospects; by and large Coach Self has really done well . If recruiting to KU with its history and tradition and proximity to KC is hard, imagine what it must be like to recruit to Manhattan, Kansas. Just sayin’…
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@HighEliteMajor So, has he failed? If he had a few Jamaris on the bench, maybe he doesn’t go 4 out. Maybe the Preston suspension is a blessing in disguise because it forces Doke not to hack away. It also forces us to play faster, pass the ball around, and find the open man instead of the point guard making an entry pass into the post while the rest of the team stands around like we saw for years. Nothing screams “exciting ball” like feeding Landen, and watching him flop around trying to score. Not for me, man. Whip that ball to all 4 corners, and one of our guns is gonna get open.
You label the transfers as a "failure"without realizing the chief problem we have this year is our chief strength next year. The difference is this year we have the incredible DG, Vick, and Svi to go along with a 7 foot man beast that is itching to eat the rim. We are oozing with experience this year. Next year, we’ll have practically no experience except for the transfers. We will need them badly next year. When Preston gets activated, our depth increases. If DeSousa or Sosinki can come in and help, then we can at least field a competent stable of bigs. We don’t have to have the best bigs to win playing 4 out. Start DG/Newman or Cunliffe, Vick, Svi, and start with Doke, then Billy, then whoever’s left. This team is really special in my mind due to the fact they have the lack of depth, and they know they have to overcome it.
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@KUSTEVE the D is also better than last year. We are sitting at third in defense field goal %.
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@KUSTEVE I think by Traylor’s senior season, Self figured out exactly what you’ve mentioned — play a system to fit your talent. But then again, those were our discussion points right here, before Self did what you are praising.
I have confidence now that if we had Traylor as another big right now, Self would play just as he is now, to his perimeter strength.
And there is no dressing it up – Self failed bigtime when it came to our post depth. No one’s perfect.
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@HighEliteMajor After 7 games, you’re right. After 14 games, I think you’ll be wrong.
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@HighEliteMajor As you say, ultimately everything falls on the coach. But…who could have predicted that Whitman would leave and Billy would have eligibility issues? Should we have one more big guy on the bench? Yes, one more reserve big guy would have been nice. The fact that the Lawsons are sitting there ready for next year probably didn’t help. It would be good to know what happened with Whitman. But to your point…recruiting a Whitman, who ultimately didn’t stay for whatever reason…yes that is on Self.
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Did someone mention Jamari?? I’m liking this post more and more
Wish we had him now…
I suppose the one of lessons learned with transfers is that the hope of perceived playing time is the biggest reason they went to the trouble of transferring balanced with going to a better program to get better coaching and better competition. But the three guys mentioned surely knew they were off the bench- level guys at an elite program like Kansas? What the hell were they expecting? I doubt they were misled as to playing time. this is Kansas baby. You earn it on a guaranteed top 20 team. Well, right now at least one of them would be on the court a lot right now for the number 2 team in the country because of the Preston situation
Honestly I love the fact that Self is actively exploiting the current wealth of transfers out there… smart move since we don’t seem to be able to coax enough top 25 bigs to come here. Recruiting is tough unless you are Kensucky or Dook or NC
Hunter M is I suppose a classic example of a transfer taking a gamble (trying to earn playing time on a super competitive high profile team) … sadly he rode the pine pretty much. And would his pro career been different had he gone somewhere else and played more?? (I believe he’s playing in Poland now)… I doubt it. He learned a Lot here about how to become a better player, and for the rest of his life he can say he played with the Kansas men’s basketball team in Allen Fieldhouse.
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@Hawk8086 My criticism assumes Preston in the fold. You ask, who could have predicted that Whitman would leave? The only person paid to make the prediction is Bill Self. It’s similar to the fact that we like to give him credit for our team making shots, but we don’t want to criticize when our team doesn’t make shots (I find that always entertaining, because the logic, or lack of it, then diminishes his actual coaching impact; for if all that is necessary is to make shots, then why have a coach?). If you look at our rosters in the past, three post players is way, way low (Doke, Preston, Lightfoot). Self managed the roster in a way where three scholarships are taken up by transfers sitting on the bench (Lawsons + Moore). Again, that’s his call. It is not unreasonable to assume that a player might get hurt (which is akin to the Preston situation now). Self gambled on transfers and lost. That’s all. It seems pretty easy to accept that he shoulders the blame for our roster predicament … given, of course, that’s he’s in charge of the roster.
All of that without one ounce of criticism regarding the Preston garbage.
Back to your question of who could have assumed that Whitman would leave? I could have. So could most of us here. I would assume that every player, regardless of any promises or commitments, could and might leave. If found it a bit comical when so many, with such certainty, said that Newman would not turn pro after a redshirt season because of a promise to Bill Self. They didn’t know. They were believing someone’s word. The fact that Newman did not turn pro does not make the consideration that someone might not keep their word incorrect. Particularly from someone, his dad, who days before he transferred said he was staying. And a reputation as a “me first” player. In fact, it would be flat stupid not to consider that Newman might not have kept his word.
In any business, you have to anticipate and play out the options before they happen. That’s Bill Self’s job when it comes to roster management. One comment was that it only made sense that Coleby would leave, given the way playing time was shaping up. Ok, then, that is not obvious to the boss?
Again, Self gambled and the roster juggling didn’t work out as he wanted.
With transfers, players who have already shown that they will leave a school, I think the concern about them leaving is significantly heightened vs. other recruited players. And he whiffed on the three transfers. That’s part of the game. You make incorrect judgments (or judgments that are on their face, correct, but prove out to be incorrect) here and there, in every business.
We should remember, as well, that an important Bill Self recruit left the program (Carlton Bragg). Who makes that judgment call on signing him, and assessing him for the program? The point is just that the buck stops somewhere, right? Just like it does with wins and successes.
We (all of us) love to exonerate Bill Self on failures, but hypocritically praise him for every success. Truth is, he bears the criticism for program failures and deserves all the credit for successes. He’s the boss.
The truth is, as well, that his failures are far, far outweighed by the the successes and the extremely impressive way he handles the program. An ounce of criticism here and there should not offend. And @Hawk8086, I know you’re not offended, you just opened the door.
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Whitman left us with little chance of replacing him especially when you don’t even make it out of the summer before leaving. Timing was key with him. Of course, taking Whitman in the first place was a gamble. Why did we have to gamble on a 5th year transfer to be a rotation piece. Why couldn’t we have found someone earlier? We could have pushed for another fall commitment but we didn’t. We left ourselves scrambling for spring scraps. We had a reputation for recruiting slow in the fall. 2018 class is a change from that. 2019 could be as well if reports are true about the staff changing things up.
Why did Coleby up and leave?
Why was Maxwell even on the team and then all of a sudden vanished? His exile opened up the door for Sam Cunliffe who’s still a major TBD… At least he gives us a 6th guard to use in our 4-1.
I hope the revolving door of taking in transfer post players is over. We should be able to recruit starters and rotation/development pieces at KU in the post. The Lawsons we hope work out. They bring a ton of experience and talent but we’ve seen them making headlines before playing a game. Suspensions, drama back home, maturity issues exist with them. So the door is open that they become just like Whitman, Coleby, Maxwell instead of a Tarik Black. We’ll certainly see.
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It all comes down to two injuries, Doke’s wrist and Coleby’s knee. The first left him a year behind in game experience and in learning post movement, the latter left Coleby more than a year behind and unable to perform in his one year here at the level of which he was capable.
Those factors led staff to scramble for stopgap players to supplement 5-star Billy coming in. The stopgaps got discouraged by ML’s improvement and potential as a 4-year player so they left, as did Coleby, when they saw that they were going to be sharing too little time in their final years.
So, it is obvious that Bill Self is to blame for the injuries in addition to not being able to read everybody’s minds.
I still blame the Chiefs’ coaching staff for Derrick Thomas’s car crash and later death in the hospital, due ultimately to not wearing his seatbelt in snow and ice. They should have known he was a risk-taker.
Same with Yordano and the Royals.
All coaching staffs are always to blame for anything that goes wrong, no matter how surprising to the world at large. And anyone who thinks otherwise is an excuse-making idiot who doesn’t understand coaches are paid to take the blame.
Heee! Heeee! Heee!
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I love that Bill Self is being blamed for tuning out a roster devoid of post talent and yet his team is playing the best basketball in the nation, undefeated, and ranked #2.
The warts will show, but Bill is doing a masterful job once again.
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@dylans This is fun! Fire Bill Self–Hire The Psychic Network for recruiting instead!
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Kind of makes me wonder…
Are small players smarter than big players?
I know… it is a generalization.
But it seems we’ve had so much more problems with bigs than smalls.
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drgnslayr said:
Kind of makes me wonder…
Are small players smarter than big players?
I know… it is a generalization.
But it seems we’ve had so much more problems with bigs than smalls.
Lol. Maybe they can blend in a little easier.
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@RockkChalkk no!
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@drgnslayr This is the more fun version of that list. Since I’ve been watching KU play:
First it’s Ostertag taking on a water slide… The slide won taking two of the big 00’s teeth.
Then Pollard shows up with his painted fingernails and mutton chops. What a trouble maker! Lol
TJ Pugh. That guy could crack up a classroom with a sly remark. Very disruptive.
Moody…what more do I have to say? Trouble from day one. A walk-on starting?!? Gangster!
Sasha Kauhn I once heard that guy got a b in C++ but it was just a nasty rumor.
