Kansas basketball receives commitment from St. Bonaventure transfer Melvin Council Jr.
LAWRENCE — The Kansas basketball fan base received some good news on Wednesday, as St. Bonaventure transfer guard Melvin Council Jr. revealed during a livestream on Instagram that he has committed to play for the Jayhawks.
Council, listed as a 6-foot-4 and 180-pound senior this past season, spent just one season at St. Bonaventure. He spent the previous year at Wagner and also has experience at the junior college level. With St. Bonaventure, he was an Atlantic 10 Conference all-league third-team honoree.
Advertisement
RELATED: Where could Kansas basketball be ranked to start 2025-26 season? Here are poll projections
"We're very excited to announce Melvin Council Jr. has signed," head coach Bill Self said in a KU release that followed Council's announcement. "He's a 6-4, long, rangy guard that can play with the ball and without the ball. Melvin will remind our fans physically and athletically of Tyshawn Taylor. He's a superior athlete who can score the ball and has the potential to be one of the more elite defenders that we've had in recent memory. He's been very well drilled and well coached at Monroe (College), Wagner (College) and Saint Bonaventure. We could not be more excited to have him in the fold."
Council won't arrive at Kansas as someone who's expected to be a reliable 3-point shooter, but he has been a productive player who brings experience to the roster. He'll be someone who can be relied upon to be a pivotal part of the rotation. As the Jayhawks look to deal with the departure of numerous players who could have returned from this past season's squad, his presence will be valued.
Last season, Kansas finished 21-13 overall and saw its postseason end in the round of 64 of the NCAA tournament with a loss against Arkansas. The Jayhawks also saw their Big 12 Conference tournament run end in the quarterfinals with a loss against Arizona. As coach Bill Self and company look to regain the momentum that followed a national championship run in 2022, Council will look to play a key role.
Melvin Council Jr. has elected to transfer to play for Kansas basketball after playing at St. Bonaventure.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association's sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: St. Bonaventure transfer Melvin Council Jr. picks Kansas basketball
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
18 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
This Date in Baseball - Ken Griffey Jr. becomes the 6th player in MLB history to reach 600 HRs
June 9 1901 — The New York Giants set a major league record with 31 hits in beating Cincinnati 25-13. Al Selbach of the Giants went 6-for-7 with two doubles and four singles and scored four runs. 1906 — Boston snapped a 19-game losing streak by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3. 1914 — Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates got the 3,000th hit of his career off Philadelphia's Erskine Mayer in a 3-1 loss to the Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Wagner's hit, a double, came in the ninth. Wagner joined Cap Anson as the only members of the 3000-hit club. 1935 — The St. Louis Cardinals became the 10th team in major league history to score a run in every inning in a 13-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. 1946 — Commissioner Happy Chandler imposed five-year suspensions on players who jumped to the Mexican League and three-year suspensions for those who broke the reserve clause. 1946 — The New York Giants' Mel Ott became the first manager to be ejected in both ends of a doubleheader. The Pittsburgh Pirates won both games, 2-1 and 5-1. 1963 — Playing the first Sunday night game in major league history because of excessive heat during the day, the Houston Colt .45s handed the San Francisco Giants their seventh straight loss in Houston, 3-0. Turk Farrell and Skinny Brown pitched the shutout. 1966 — Rich Rollins, Zoilo Versalles, Tony Oliva, Don Mincher and Harmon Killebrew homered in the seventh inning for the Minnesota Twins in a 9-4 victory over the Kansas City Athletics. 1979 — California's Nolan Ryan struck out 16 batters as the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 9-1. It was the 21st time in his career he struck out 15 or more batters in one game. 1986 — Chicago pitcher Tom Seaver (306) and California Angels hurler Don Sutton (298) had the highest composite win total (604) for opposing pitchers since 1926, when Walter Johnson (406) faced Red Faber (197). Sutton pitched a two-hit shutout to beat the White Sox 3-0. 1990 — Eddie Murray of the Los Angeles Dodgers tied Mickey Mantle's record by homering from each side of the plate in the same game for the 10th time in his career. The Dodgers beat the Padres 5-4 in 11 innings. 1998 — Cecil Fielder of the Angels and Yamil Benitez of the Diamondbacks each hit grand slams in the same inning in Anaheim's 10-8 win over Arizona. It was the first time both teams hit grand slams in the same inning since 1992. 2008 — Ken Griffey Jr. became the sixth player in baseball history to reach 600 homers with a drive off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Cincinnati Reds' 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins. 2014 — Lonnie Chisenhall had nine RBIs and three home runs in a five-hit game, Michael Brantley scored five times and the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers 17-7. 2015 — Chris Heston pitched the first no-hitter in his 13th career start, leading the San Francisco Giants over the New York Mets 5-0. The rookie allowed three baserunners — all on hit batters. He also had a two-run single for his first big league RBIs and finished with two more hits than the Mets. 2019 — The Nationals accomplish a very rare feat as four consecutive batters hit solo homers in the 8th inning in Petco Park in San Diego to break a 1 - 1 tie. Pinch-hitterHowie Kendrick starts things off against Craig Stammen, and is followed in order by Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon, who all go yard. This is only the ninth time in major league history this has happened, and the Nats were the last to do so, on July 27, 2017. 2022 — The Twins open the bottom of the 1st against the Yankees with three consecutive homers off Gerrit Cole at Target Field, by Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa. This is the first time in franchise history this has happened. _____
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
KU Jayhawks fall in Big 12 baseball championship semis. Will they host in NCAAs?
Kansas coach Dan Fitzgerald exchanges words with umpires before being ejected from the game in sixth inning of a game against Texas on Thursday, May 16, 2024, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin. No. 3 seed TCU, a team that swept a three-game series against Kansas from April 11-13 in Fort Worth, Texas, slugged the No. 2 seed Jayhawks 11-1 in the semifinals of the Big 12 baseball championship Friday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The game was called after eight innings because of the run rule. Advertisement The Horned Frogs (39-17), who have won three games in a row and seven of nine, advanced into Saturday's 6 p.m. final against No. 4 seed Arizona (38-18). Meanwhile the Jayhawks (43-15), who had their six-game winning streak snapped by the Horned Frogs, will now have to wait until Monday to learn their upcoming assignment in the 64-team NCAA Tournament. KU had been hoping to win three games at the Big 12 tourney and convince the NCAA Tournament committee the Jayhawks were worthy of hosting a four-team NCAA regional. The announcers working Friday's game on ESPN+ speculated the Jayhawks were locks to make the tournament, but not as hosts. TCU, which erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the second inning Friday, will face the No. 4 seed Arizona Wildcats, who defeated No. 1 seed West Virginia 12-1 in another semifinal Friday. Advertisement KU reached the semifinals by rallying from a four-run deficit to defeat No. 7 seed Oklahoma State, 7-6, on Thursday. On Saturday, Derek Cerda had two hits for the Jayhawks, who mustered just five hits off a pair of TCU pitchers. TCU's Jack Bell went 3-for-5 with five RBIs. The Horned Frogs slugged 16 hits off five KU pitchers. KU's Cooper Moore (7-2) was the losing pitcher. Louis Rodriguez (5-1) earned the win.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
‘He's just different': KU freshman Darryn Peterson already has teammate's attention
Prolific Prep guard Darryn Peterson (24) dribbles the ball as he sets up a move in the second half of the Grind Session High School Basketball World Championships against DME Academy at Coffin Sports Complex on Saturday, March 22, 2025 in Lawrence, Kansas. Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson hasn't been in Lawrence long, but he's already had a memorable first practice. His current favorite teammate is newcomer and Loyola-Chicago transfer Jayden Dawson. 'Me and Jayden Dawson were killing it yesterday in the three-on-three and four-on-four,' Peterson said. Advertisement The former five-star recruit, nicknamed 'Bucket Jones' by his father, Darryl, has already made quite an impression on his teammates and coach Bill Self. Self called Peterson a 'generational talent' Monday. Dawson didn't quite say that, but the word generational was also thrown around. 'He's just different,' Dawson told The Star about Peterson. 'He's just one of those generational athletes that you don't really come across. It's just special. You can just see it based on his talent alone. This summer alone, he's going to grow so much. Just the talent alone — not too many players you can see that's as good as him.' Dawson has NBA dreams; it's one of the reasons why he picked the Jayhawks. Peterson will certainly command plenty of NBA attention as a contender for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Advertisement 'DP being the projected number one pick, that's just going to put eyes on me,' Dawson said. 'Bringing NBA scouts and NBA GMs every day for practices and games is exactly what I need for me to get where I want to get to.' That synergy between Dawson and Peterson will be pivotal for the Jayhawks. Dawson is the only player currently on KU's roster who shot above 35% from 3 last season. He averaged 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists a game last season for the Ramblers. Dawson will compete for one of the starting roles alongside Peterson. 'It felt good just being able to be on his side, being his teammate, watching what he can do, which is crazy,' Dawson said. ' I think we complement each other's game really, really well. Being able to shoot the ball as well as we can, I think it just opens up the floor for us so much. Advertisement 'We already have that connection a little bit finding each other. I think it's going to be really special.' Finding the right running mates alongside Peterson has been work in progress for Self and his staff. Multiple players who were linked to KU through the transfer portal told The Star that Peterson recruited them, and Self discussed their fit alongside Peterson. Dawson was no different. He's known about the former five-star recruit for a while. Dawson recalled seeing the battles between Peterson and BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa at the high school level. Peterson and Dybantsa were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the class of 2025 by 247Sports. Dawson also got to see a young Peterson firsthand at a basketball camp and came away impressed with his ability to get buckets. Advertisement As for what KU fans and his teammates can expect from Dawson? 'I'm just going to be that guy that's going to do whatever is asked of him,' Dawson said. 'If I gotta dive on a loose ball, I'll dive on it. If I (have) to hit an open 3 and sit in the corner (I'll do it.) If I (have) to guard the best player, I'll do whatever is asked of me. 'Knowing I'm that vet – I'm one of the vets on the team — I'll do whatever is asked of me.'
