4-Star PF Silvio De Sousa Commits to Kansas over Kentucky, Florida, UNC, More

Basketball prodigy Silvio De Sousa has made the 2018 recruiting class for Kansas significantly better after committing to the Jayhawks on Wednesday.

De Sousa told Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal-World he committed to Kansas on Sunday after taking an official visit to the campus:

“When I was there in Kansas, I couldn’t even express myself or how I was feeling. When you love something, there’s no way you will describe it. I knew about their basketball but I didn’t know about the campus, the coaches and stuff like that. I felt like that was the place I wanted to be, the culture and the coaches were so great around me. That’s one of the things I’ve been looking for and I found that in them.”

Originally hailing from Angola, De Sousa has been honing his basketball skills in the U.S. at Florida's IMG Academy. He's a 4-star recruit who is ranked as the No. 2 power forward from the state of Florida, No. 9 power forward recruit in the country and No. 40 player in the 2018 class overall, per Scout.com. 

In addition to his lofty scouting rankings, De Sousa is already in prime shape at 6'9" and 220 pounds to take on talent at the college level. He also comes with this evaluation from Scout.com:

"[De Sousa] since he came to the United States has been someone who has been extremely impressive. At times he has looked like a man amongst boys on the court. He is as good an athlete as you will find in the country, and is as strong as anybody in high school basketball. Add in that he plays hard, is always attacking the rim, and is a tremendous rebounder, and it is easy to see why he is thought of so highly."

The one criticism of De Sousa's game in the analysis is he must "continue to work on his jumper," but he's shown such a strong knack for putting the ball in the hoop that it won't be difficult for him to be an impact offensive player. 

Kansas continues to excel in the recruiting race under head coach Bill Self. De Sousa is the Jayhawks' first commit for 2018, though his presence will help attract other top-tier recruits to join him in Lawrence.

Self has been with Kansas since 2003 and has led the program to 14 Big 12 regular-season titles, seven Big Ten tournament titles and a national championship in 2008. 

There are high standards to meet in Kansas. De Sousa's arrival in Lawrence starting next year will ensure the Jayhawks remain among the elite teams in the nation and will continue to be in the national title picture for the foreseeable future.