Dick Vitale Calls for Silvio De Sousa Ban After Kansas-Kansas State Brawl

Vitale: "[Kansas forward Silvio] De Sousa never, ever should put a uniform on in college basketball again."

Dick Vitale had some harsh words for Kansas's Silvio De Sousa after the forward lifted a chair over his head in a brawl against Kansas State on Tuesday.

De Sousa blocked a Kansas State shot in the final seconds at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, then stood over Wildcats guard DaJuan Gordon. The two benches cleared as a fight erupted, and De Sousa then lifted the chair before having it knocked out of his hands.

Benches emptied at the end of the Kansas State-Kansas game. pic.twitter.com/zWv46h3RJC

— ESPN (@espn) January 22, 2020

“Well, just absolutely sickening, unbelievable. The 40 years I’m on TV, I haven’t seen anything like that, unless you go to the NBA and the Pistons’ brawl that took place at the Palace. I think there’s no doubt in my mind that De Sousa never, ever should put a uniform on in college basketball again," Vitale said during ESPN's broadcast of Miami at Duke. "He’s holding a chair. I mean, that’s criminal! He’s going to hurt somebody! I mean, I don’t want to hear any excuse that ‘They stole the ball with time running out, they should never have done such a thing.’ Give me a break. That was ugly.”

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long called the brawl "simply unacceptable," on Tuesday night. Punishment for De Sousa and other players is expected to be handed down by the Big 12 on Wednesday.

The Jayhawks advanced to 15–3, 5–1 Big 12 in 2019–20 with Tuesday's victory.