Maryland basketball subpoenaed in FBI investigation over player who landed at Kansas

Maryland is the latest school to be dragged into the FBI’s investigation into corruption throughout college basketball. The university has released copies of two grand jury subpoenas relating to an assistant coach and the recruitment of a player who appears to be Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa.

De Sousa was considered a national top-35 player as a recruit. Maryland was widely viewed as the favorite to land him before he visited Kansas in the spring of 2017 and committed shortly after. De Sousa went on to reclassify from a 2018 recruit to a 2017 one, and became eligible midway through this past season. He provided some critical interior depth for a Jayhawks team that went to the Final Four.

In an April indictment, a guardian of De Sousa’s — who is originally from Congo and arrived in the United States in 2015 — revealed they told Adidas they had been compensated to secure his commitment ahead of a school sponsored by a different apparel company. Between payments to De Sousa’s mother and guardians, about $50,000 allegedly changed hands for his commitment, allegedly funneled through an Adidas grassroots team.

The second payment was allegedly made to “help get the student-athlete ‘out from under’ the deal” with another school. Kansas is an Adidas-sponsored school, while Maryland reps Under Armour.

It remains to be seen how all of this will affect Kansas. Kansas hired Jeff Long as AD on Thursday, and the contract included language focused on the school’s role in the FBI investigation:

The Maryland assistant targeted in the subpoena is Orlando Ranson, with a focus on his relationship with Christian Dawkins, a former runner for ASM. Dawkins has previously been charged in the probe.

N.C. State also received a federal subpoena in March relating to the corruption investigation.