Kansas Guard Melvin Council Jr. Proved Transfer Portal Rankings Wrong

The transfer portal has become a crucial factor in college basketball. And according to voters of the All-Big 12 Awards, Kansas found the best one in the conference this past offseason.

On Monday, senior guard Melvin Council Jr. was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. The St. Bonaventure transfer finished the regular season averaging 13.4 points, 5.2 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 41.2% from the field.

How Melvin Council Jr. proved rankings wrong

Although freshmen are also technically newcomers, they are not included in voting for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, so the award could just be called "Transfer of the Year." Otherwise, BYU's AJ Dybantsa likely would have won, as he made the All-Big 12 first team and was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

Council's emergence is a sign of coach Bill Self's recruiting and evaluation prowess. According to 247Sports, Council was ranked No. 123 among all transfers and No. 29 among shooting guard transfers this past offseason.

But he certainly exceeded those expectations after winning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Sixteen incoming Big 12 transfers were ranked higher than Council by 247Sports this offseason, including fellow incoming Kansas transfers Tre White and Jayden Dawson.

Instead, it was Council who became the fourth Jayhawk to win Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, joining Hunter Dickinson (2024), Dedric Lawson (2019) and Malik Newman (2018).

Melvin Council Jr. Kansas Basketball — Kansas Jayhawks guard Melvin Council Jr. (14) dribbles against the Kansas State Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Council also received an All-Big 12 honorable mention, and was joined on the Big 12 All-Newcomer team by Baylor's Cameron Carr, UCF's Themus Fulks, Cincinnati's Baba Miller and Texas Tech's Donovan Atwell. Kansas has had 20 players made the Big 12 All-Newcomer team.

Council's career has taken a unique and incredible path, as he started out at Monroe College, where he was two-time NJCAA Division I All-American. He then transferred to Wagner College, where he was named to the All-Northeast Conference first team, and later made the All-Atlantic 10 third team while playing for St. Bonaventure.

This is likely Council's last season of college basketball, unless he were to win a court case against the NCAA regarding the beginning of his career in junior college.

"You know, I haven't looked into that, but I've been hearing things, seeing things and stuff like that," Council said earlier this season. "And, I mean, I would love to come back if I had another year. It's Kansas. Why not? And Bill Self, so."

But if turns out to be his last season, he'll look to end his college career on a high note with the Jayhawks in postseason play.

Kansas earned the No. 3 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, where it'll play Thursday at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN against either No. 6 TCU, No. 11 Colorado or No. 14 Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks are projected as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament by Joe Lunardi.