Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self struggled in past seasons bringing in the right players from the transfer portal for his system. He bucked that trend this year. Two of the transfers on the current roster have been incredible.
Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White are the glue that is holding this team together. Along with holdover Flory Bidunga, Council and White helped KU survive the stretch when Darryn Peterson was out earlier in the season. Upon Peterson's return, the others are learning how to incorporate what the freshman does best into what they each do well, and the results are improving each game.
For the 2021-22 season, Self added scoring machine Remy Martin from the portal. Martin struggled most of the year, averaging just 8.6 points a game. He had averaged 19.1 points his previous two seasons at Arizona State. It all came together for Martin and the Jayhawks during March Madness. In the six games that culminated in a national championship, including 23 in the round of 16.
The next season, Self hit pay dirt again with Kevin McCullar, though he was a complementary player his first year at Kansas. His second season, he played very well, averaging 15 points and 6 rebounds a game.
That same 2023-24 season, Self brought in Hunter Dickinson. While the big man had an incredible skill set, he lacked physicality. While he could score, rebound, and pass well, he was not good defensively or as a rim protector. Though he and McCullar did well that season, they didn't get much support.
Last season, Self brought in AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen, but neither worked out at all. Again, Dickenson was asked to carry the load on offense. As good as Dickerson was, he needed perimeter help and didn't have it.
This season, Self added some guys who weren't as well-known as some transfers from recent years (not counting Dickenson), but they were better fits to his system.
What do Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White bring to the Kansas basketball team?
Council and White had very different journeys to Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
White is no stranger to big-time college basketball. He played at USC, Louisville, and Illinois before enrolling at Kansas. He was a solid player at each stop. For the Trojans, he averaged 9 points and 5.1 rebounds. For the Cardinals, he produced 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds, and for the Illini, he averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds.
He has taken the next step at KU. He is scoring 15 points a game, 7.5 rebounds, and he's on pace for a career-high mark in assists, averaging 2.2 a game. He's workmanlike, methodical, smart, unspectacular, and steady. He isn't as flashy as Peterson, Bidunga, and Council.
The Colorado game on Tuesday was the perfect example. He finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists. Watching the game, it did not seem as though he was that dominating, but that is how it feels every game. He's a complete player, and it is astonishing that he puts up the stats he does as quietly as he does.
Council went to junior college for two years, then played for Wagner (14.9 points a game) and St. Bonaventure (14.6). The jump from those schools to KU, playing the likes of Duke, UConn, North Carolina, Tennessee, and North Carolina State, plus the rugged Big 12 schools, is a gigantic jump in competition.
Council has risen to the challenge. He's averaging 13.5 points, and he's on pace to set a career high in assists average (4.8) and a career low in turnover average (1.5). He brings a tenacity and doggedness the Jayhawks have been desperately missing over the last several seasons. He is the very definition of a “dawg,” and the fieldhouse faithful have taken to woofing when he makes a great play.
Against Colorado, Council also filled up the stat sheet. He led the team with 18 points, pulled down seven rebounds, grabbed three steals, and had three assists. Late in the game, when Peterson was hobbled by an ankle injury, Council took over the game, scoring baskets and making incredible hustle plays to push KU to the win.
Council and White have been the exact kind of players the Kansas basketball program needed. These guys are playing for the name across the front of the jersey, and it shows. They play hard, they play well, and they are leaders. The rest of the roster has responded, as now it is not unusual to see Bidunga, Elmarko Jackson, Bryson Tiller, or Jamari McDowell diving on the floor or making hustle plays.
White and Council are a joy to watch play basketball for KU. They are players who deserve fans' support and respect. They are doing everything the right way, and when the team gets completely comfortable playing with Peterson (and they are getting close), these two players will help make Kansas a contender for the Big 12 title again.
We will never tire of watching Council and White in the crimson and blue.
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