Council- Another year
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Figured a thread on this possibility was worth starting as we hit the mid-point of the season.
Melvin Council imo has been my favorite transfer in the wild-west portal/NIL craze era. His leadership and charisma on the court, his exciting style of play and non-stop effort is everything we want to see in a Jayhawk player. His road to KU is a tale of rags to riches in a way. Even playing at Kansas this year was only possible by the Diego Pavia lawsuit in Football regarding Juco eligibility. Maybe all of us fans owe him some homage for making it possible for others to benefit like Council has.
Anyway, technically Council's eligibility was over last year but he got the 1-year waiver granted from the NCAA. February 10th is an important date to follow as the same judge that granted Pavia and others the 1-year waiver will hear new arguments from others that joined the Pavia lawsuit on their challenges to the JUCO eligibility rules. Council is currently not a plaintiff in this case I don't believe. He may not want to return to College another year although he'd likely make far more in NIL then a professional career next year. If the plaintiffs win their case, it doesn't give Council another year automatically as that exemption would have to come from the NCAA like it did for this year. There's precedent for it happening but it's wait and see.
As a big fan, I hope he gets another year, wants another year and stays at KU. Wouldn't that be grand for next year's plans?
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Ditto. Love Melvin.
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Yeah, I've definitely changed my tune on Melvin. I was pretty critical early on as it seemed he was reckless and his shooting percentages were atrocious. Well NCState, a tight game was his big breakout. 45% on threes since the big breakout, 19% before that game, both 10 game sample sizes. He's turning into that guy who will bail us out. Never would've thought it possible.
As far as another year goes, I don't have an informed opinion. Are there similar cases in the NCAA? He played 2 JUCO years and 3 DI years. If he played for any other school I'd say.."this is crazy, why should he have another year?" But when the NCAA is letting kids come back after receiving professional contracts it almost seems like sure, why not Melvin? My heart says yes, my brain says no.
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Melvin is a circus-shot savant. At times he looks like a globetrotter.
Another year? YES PLEASE.
But let's be real, he's getting paid more next year no matter what. It's just a matter of how much and where.
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@BeddieKU23 He reminds me of on the court Tyshawn Taylor
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No doubt there are a lot of similarities between the two. I think he might be an even better leader but still a lot of season to sort that out
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I wouldn't say it's probable that Council will be granted another year but it's a possibility if things go right. The wait and see on the Feb 10th case and then if any decision is made by the NCAA after that leaves a few dominos that need to fall in place perfectly.
I think the NCAA would basically have to say JUCO years don't count towards your D1 eligibility clock which for Council would give him a 4th year at D1 level. The Pavia lawsuit forced the NCAA's hands to give a 1-year waiver to all JUCO kids. Historically, it doesn't sound like the NCAA would grant a 2nd blanket waiver without changing rules, but the NCAA has backed down in a lot of situations recently.
If he does get eligibility & wants to return to College I think it's in KU's best interest to make sure he stays at KU.
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Prices for every position are going to be sky high again this season. The recent Football Portal window showed that it's out of hand. Council wasn't a cheap addition this offseason, but I'd wager a player like Council at the lower levels is going to cost 50% or more than the price they were last portal cycle.
Council, if he continues to play like he has would be in that top tier of players that can basically set his price and get it. I believe KU would do everything it could to retain him, but the war chest isn't unlimited, and we've seen a lot of teams are willing to throw stupid money at kids to get them. I do believe Council values being at KU and that could be a big factor if this situation comes about.
Nobody is safe on this current roster to return next season which is scary.
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I saw that Tyshawns record during his time at KU was 67-1 in AFH.
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@BeddieKU23 something in my gut tells me Kohl will transfer out, just got buried on the bench. I think the re-classification was a little rougher for him then he thought and once he started struggling it became a Major thing
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@ROCKCHALK2025 You are probably right. I like Kohl and would love for him to develop here, that doesn't happen in 2026
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If he sticks around another yr it better be for a discounted price then what they shelled for him last offseason.
Heck of an athlete. Needs the rest of his game to mature and improve. One injury away from him playing some minutes this yr but seems like Self made the decision he didnt trust him enough for the meat of the conference.