Transfer portal rumors: Insider provides major update on Kansas commit following NBA draft combine

Kansas Jayhawks guard Melvin Council has decided to withdraw from this year's NBA draft and play out his third year of D1 hoops. On Wednesday, college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein reported on his X account that the Rochester, New York native has rescinded his name from the draft and will return to school for the 2025-2026 season.

The development follows Council's commitment to transfer to the Jayhawks on April 16 after spending his sophomore stint with the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. Council previously spent his freshman stint with the Wagner Seahawks in the 2023-2024 campaign under the tutelage of Donald Copeland.

"Kansas’ Melvin Council tells me that he will withdraw from the 2025 NBA Draft and return to school next season. Transfer from St. Bonaventure who averaged 14.6 PPG last year," Rothstein wrote on X.

Expand Tweet

Melvin Council entered his name into this offseason's transfer portal on April 4 after the Bonnies finished the season with an overall record of 22-12, 9-9 during A-10 conference play.

St. Bonaventure then competed in the 2025 NIT, where they were defeated in the first round by the Kent State Golden Flashes with a score of 75-56.

In his lone year with the Bonnies, Council averaged 14.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 steals per contest.

Kansas' Melvin Council was not projected in any 2025 NBA mock drafts

Per ESPN and several other media outlets, Melvin Council was not projected to be picked in the 2025 NBA draft. He will look to improve his draft stock further at Kansas next season.

Council joins a Jayhawks squad that had national title aspirations in the 2024-2025 campaign, but unfortunately had a disappointing end to their season. Coach Bill Self's program finished last year with an overall record of 21-13, 11-9 in Big 12 conference play, and was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Council is set to team up with top recruit Darryn Peterson, who is currently the No. 1-ranked prospect in the Class of 2025 per 247Sports.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

Know More

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Edited by Brad Taningco