Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
INDIANAPOLIS – St. Bonaventure men’s basketball senior Melvin Council Jr. continues to pick up accolades as he has earned distinction as one of the Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Already honored as the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, Council recorded 22.0 points, 6.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in a pair of wins by the Bonnies this past week to begin conference play.
Each week, the USBWA highlights five Division I players of the week. This week, Council earned selection along with Cooper Flagg of Duke, Chaz Lanier of Tennessee, Leo Colimerio of Queens and Malik Thomas of San Francisco.
Council did it all in his first two Atlantic 10 games, first delivering heroics with a game-winning layup vs. VCU on Dec. 31 as part of a 20-point performance.
This past Saturday at Fordham, he keyed another win with a unicorn statistical effort – he became the only player to post 23+ points, eight assists and five steals in a regulation Division I game this season as he finished with those numbers as part of a 24-point effort.
The Rochester native has helped the Bonnies to one of the best starts in the nation this season. St. Bonaventure, receiving votes in the AP Top 25 poll for the fourth consecutive week, is tied for the most wins in the nation as part of a 14-1 start to the season.
Council is the first Bonnies player to earn national player of the week honors since Mika Adams-Woods did so Dec. 12, 2023.
Since taking over the point guard duties during Dasonte Bowen’s absence (foot injury), Council has been a do-it-all dynamo for the Bonnies, averaging 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.6 steals with a 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio in the past five contests. He also leads the Atlantic 10 and is among the top-15 nationally in steals for the season.
The Bonnies (14-1, 2-0 A-10) are back in action Wednesday night at Saint Louis.
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