Melvin Council Jr. is now the second Kansas men’s basketball player to rejoin the Jayhawks after winning eligibility in the courts.
KU announced on social media on Sunday morning that the fan-favorite KU guard, who recently became available for a sixth overall year of college basketball after earning an injunction against the NCAA in Monroe County, New York, that Council is headed back to Lawrence.
He had teased fans on Saturday night by claiming he was picking between Kentucky, LSU and Michigan but didn’t take long afterward to reveal his true intentions.
“After being granted a preliminary injunction to play this season, Melvin Council will begin to practice with us immediately, like Tre White did last week,” KU coach Bill Self said in a statement. “Melvin was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year last season, and had a major impact on our program both on and off the court. He brings a lot of experience and leadership to our roster, and we are excited to welcome him back.”
The former Monroe College, Wagner and St. Bonaventure guard was the emotional leader and point guard for the 2025-26 Kansas team, as he averaged 12.7 points, 5.1 assists and 5.0 rebounds.
His best single-game performance came on the road at N.C. State, when he scored 36 points in a one-point win and hit nine of his 37 total 3-pointers for the season, but he also contributed clutch late-game performances against TCU, Colorado, Arizona and others, and delighted KU fans by antagonizing rivals in games against Missouri and Kansas State.
After the Jayhawks’ second-round exit, Council impressed at the Portsmouth Invitational for outgoing seniors but went unselected in the 2026 NBA Draft before playing for the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA Summer League, where he posted 8.0 points and 3.7 assists per game in three appearances.
Not long afterward, he sued the NCAA in Douglas County before dropping the suit and relocating to his home state of New York, with the stated purpose of broadening his options beyond KU. Council’s lawsuit is based on the premise that neither of his two years spent at a junior college should count toward his NCAA eligibility, in part because he had no choice but to go to a JUCO because he was facing pending criminal charges (of which he was later exonerated).
Council did not immediately receive a temporary restraining order to become eligible in New York, but on Tuesday he got his injunction from Judge Daniel J. Doyle, who took particular issue with the NCAA’s handling (or lack thereof) of Council’s waiver requests shortly after the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.
What is not clear is how long this injunction may last. Doyle instructed Council’s lawyers to “draft an order and circulate it to opposing counsel prior to submission to the Court by October 27, 2026.” There has been no further activity since and the NCAA does not yet appear to have filed an appeal of Doyle’s injunction.
Once Council starts classes as part of the second eight-week session during KU’s fall semester, he and Tre White — eligible via his own injunction in Indiana — will count toward the Jayhawks’ 14th and 15th roster spots, the final two at KU’s disposal. Self has said there is no loophole that will allow the Jayhawks to go beyond that number.
On the court, Council will be an immediate candidate to start and play significant minutes, competing for opportunities with players like freshman guard Taylen Kinney and Toledo transfer sophomore guard Leroy Blyden Jr.
