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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas coach Bill Self said Wednesday that he is confident in the conduct of his basketball program, even as the Jayhawks planned to remove forward Silvio De Sousa from their exhibition opener after a defense attorney's statement in federal court that Self had requested a $20,000 payment from Adidas to De Sousa's guardian. "I'm not going to sit here and defend myself, because I know who we are and I know how we conduct our business," Self said at Big 12 media day. "I'm proud about that, and that has not changed at all." Earlier Wednesday, the school announced in a statement that De Sousa would sit Thursday night against Emporia State because of information "presented during the current trial in New York -- some of which we knew, some of which we didn't." De Sousa will be the subject of an eligibility review conducted by Kansas and the NCAA. The statement and Self's comments Wednesday were the first by Kansas or the coach regarding the wire-fraud trial since it began. Later on Wednesday, a jury in New York convicted former Adidas executive James Gatto, former Adidas consultant Merl Code and Christian Dawkins, a former runner for NBA agent Andy Miller, in the case. In closing arguments last Friday, Michael Schachter, an attorney for Gatto, said the alleged KU-requested payment to De Sousa's guardian, Fenny Falmagne, came as an attempt to help De Sousa "get out from under" a pay-for-play scheme to attend Maryland. De Sousa, a sophomore originally from Angola, graduated from IMG Academy in Florida last December and joined the Jayhawks immediately. He was held out of action to address eligibility concerns before playing in 20 games. Testimony also connected Gatto and Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola to an alleged $90,000 payment to the mother of former Kansas player Billy Preston. Self said Wednesday he would refrain from talking specifically about the trial because of "a mandate given to me." "Any time someone punches you, I think your initial reaction is to punch back," Self said. "But sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing." Kansas plans to release another statement in the wake of the verdict. Self said he understood the negativity generated from the trial. "People can have their thoughts or opinions on what has been reported," Self said. "So I've got to be mature enough to be able to understand that and not be mad about it."
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