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Miami’s Dewan Hernandez and Kansas’ Silvio De Sousa both looking for NCAA reinstatement

Kansas v Villanova

SAN ANTONIO, TX - MARCH 31: Silvio De Sousa #22 of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts after being defeated by the Villanova Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Final Four Semifinal at the Alamodome on March 31, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. Villanova defeated Kansas 95-79. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

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When the first arrests from the FBI’s investigation into corruption in college basketball went down, it felt like a monumental moment that would lead to other monumental moments and lots of fallout.

Well, not all that much has changed or happened, but there are more than a few threads still dangling - two of them are Miami’s Dewan Hernandez and Kansas’ Silvio De Sousa.

Hernandez’s appeal for reinstatement was denied by the NCAA on Monday, though he will appeal once more to the NCAA’s student-athlete reinstatement committee, according to the Miami Sun Sentinel.

“Dewan has not given up on the process,” Hernandez’s attorney, Jason Setchen, told the Sun Sentinel. “We await student-athlete reinstatement and we continue to put our faith in the process, despite being frustrated. We remain hopeful he’ll play this season when [the] student-athlete reinstatement [committee] considers mitigation.”

Hernandez has been linked to Christian Dawkins, the would-be agent who was found guilty of a pay-for-play scheme along with two shoe company employees in the first trial stemming from the investigation, and has been held out of competition this season.

“Our hope is that the student-athlete reinstatement committee will review the facts and will recognize that there should be a significant amount of mitigation afforded to Dewan under the circumstances and that they will reinstate his eligibility,” Setchen said.

De Sousa’s eligibility has been long assumed to be a non-starter after TJ Gassnola admitted during testimony in federal court to giving money to De Sousa’s guardian. Under new rules, the NCAA is permitted to use such testimony as it evaluates infractions cases. Kansas, though, is hoping it can get the sophomore forward on the floor.

Kansas will admit a violation occurred, but ask that the NCAA accept De Sousa’s absence from play already this season as a suspension and reinstate him, according to Seth Davis of The Athletic.

One complication from that strategy could be last year’s Final Four being vacated as the payment Gassnola said he made came before De Sousa’s collegiate career, making him ineligible last season while he was playing for the Jayhawks.

Being that it’s the NCAA, though, how they will ultimately rule - in both cases - is anyone’s guess.