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PROVO — New BYU basketball coach Mark Pope inherited a signing class of three players when he took over for the retiring longtime coach Dave Rose this spring.
That class, which included Chinese-born center Shengzhe Li, Brazilian-born forward Bernardo Da Silva and Timpview guard Nate Hansen, won't make an impact on the 2019-20 season.
A few weeks after Li was released from his national letter of intent, Da Silva has been mutually released from his own obligations to BYU basketball, a source close to Da Silva confirmed to KSL.com.
The news was first reported by ESPN 960 radio and confirmed by the Salt Lake Tribune, among other outlets.
The 6-foot-9, 210-pound power forward who many considered a replacement for likely departing Yoeli Childs has never made it to campus. Concerns over Da Silva's entrance examination scores, including the TOEFL exam, surrounded his potential eligibility for next season, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Da Silva has not re-committed to another school, but he’ll have offers. The Wasatch Academy standout chose BYU over offers from Florida International, Grand Canyon, Southern Utah and Utah State, among others, and he also drew interest from UC Irvine and New Mexico prior to signing with the Cougars.
Among Rose's final signing day class, only Hansen remains committed to the Cougars — and the 6-foot-3 shooter from Timpview will serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before beginning his collegiate career.
Pope also recently announced the additions of three former Utah Valley players/prospects to his program in center Richard Harward, forward Wyatt Lowell and American Fork standout/UVU signee Trey Stewart. The trio joins Wolverine wing Jake Toolson, the reigning Western Athletic Conference player of the year who is expected to return to BYU once he is admitted to a graduate program at the university.
No timetable has been set for the re-entry of Toolson, who played two seasons at BYU before following Pope to UVU.
Former Cal signee Trevin Knell, who prepped at Woods Cross, has also signed with BYU and is expected to play for the Cougars next season. He’ll join Taylor Miller, a Las Vegas scoring threat who signed a financial aid agreement midseason with BYU.
