One of the most maddening pieces of the unsettled landscape in college athletics is how eligibility decisions have so many different declarations.
For example, a court injunction from a New York judge recently cleared Kansas basketball coach Bill Self to deploy seventh-year player Melvin Council Jr. — yes, seven years! — who has jumped from Wagner to St. Bonaventure to Kansas. He earlier spent three years at New York's Monroe Junior College. He is 24. That's absurd.
Council has already played in 168 college basketball games, which is far beyond Arizona's career record of games played, 141, by Dusan Ristic a decade ago. That's basically a full season more than any UA player in history — and Council will add another 35 games or so this coming season, pushing his career total of games close to 200.
Meanwhile, the UA is uncertain if fifth-year Georgia/Clemson transfer RJ Godfrey will be able to play for Tommy Lloyd's team this season. Godfrey has played in 137 college basketball games over four seasons, which is the same number of games former Arizona point guard Jason Gardner played in his four Arizona seasons.
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Jayhawks guard Melvin Council Jr. talks with guard Darryn Peterson and guard Elmarko Jackson during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 13, 2026.
Maybe the NCAA should set a ceiling on career games played, something close to 140. That would solve a lot of attorney fees and time in court.
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