‘He’s the one’: Why Ricky Council could be Wichita State basketball’s breakout player
When it comes to getting buckets, Ricky Council IV has always had a certain type of ruthlessness on a basketball court.
Kawhi Leonard could be in front of him and Council would attack the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year with the same confidence he would with any other defender.
In less than 16 minutes per game, Council averaged 7.1 points as a true freshman for the Wichita State men’s basketball team last season. A better perspective of his impact can be seen in his per-40 minute scoring average of 18.2 points, which was among the best bench scoring seasons at WSU in the last two decades.
Back for his second season with the Shockers, which begins Tuesday against Jacksonville State at Koch Arena, Council has his teammates believing a breakthrough is coming.
“Ricky is special and when I say special, I mean he’s the one,” WSU forward Monzy Jackson said. “The things I see him do every day, he’s doing stuff I ain’t never seen before. He’s going to be the one. Seriously, the one.”
At 6 foot 6 and a couple pounds over 200, the North Carolina native has every physical trait necessary to be a star.
It all begins with his jumping ability, which stands out compared to just about everyone. When Council jumps, he soars. His athleticism is best described as explosive and it allows him to do things on the basketball court few others can. He can rise over crowds for rebounds, he can elevate so high for dunks it can appear as if he’s bouncing off a trampoline, and he can float so long in the air that it looks like he’s defying gravity when he finishes at the rim over defenders falling back to Earth.
“When I first saw Ricky play last year, the first thing I thought was Ricky was going to the NBA,” WSU star guard Tyson Etienne said. “I don’t know when that will happen, but it’s going to happen. He has all the tools.”
Another summer of fine-tuning his shot has made Council even more dangerous. He has an unorthodox release, but it’s going in more and more, which puts defenders in a bind.
Jackson can attest to that after many nights playing Council 1-on-1.
“If you think he can’t shoot, then he’ll pull right in your face,” Jackson said. “And if you give him a step, he’s by you and he’ll finish on your head. If you jump, he’s going to put you in the rim with him. It’s a no-win. You just got to pray he misses when you try to guard him, basically.”
Not only can Council score from any spot on the court, he has the tenacity to do just that. No matter who is on the floor, he’s sure he can score over, around or through them. It’s an impressive quality from a former high school recruit who was deciding between programs like Hofstra, Rice and Appalachian State before WSU plucked him away last spring.
When Council arrived in Wichita, he didn’t think twice about his star rating or scholarship offer list. Growing up in Durham, Council believed he was destined for stardom — all he needed was for someone to believe in him. When WSU came calling, Council has been determined ever since to prove the Shockers right.
Council says his first season at WSU was only a taste of what he can do. Now the challenge will be increasing his efficiency as his role expands.
“I’m ready for the big stage,” Council said. “I’m not rushing anything, but I’m excited for this season. I put in the work and I’m ready to let it show.”
How defense, not offense, could lead to more time on the floor
Council figures to see an increase in playing time not because of his offense, but because of his effort, attentiveness and ability on the other end of the floor.
During his debut season, Council had his fair share of freshman mistakes on defense — ball watching, late rotations, missed box outs, dying on screens, reckless gambles. That’s normal for true freshmen and the reason why it’s so hard for them to gain the coaching staff’s trust right away.
But Council displayed flashes of defensive brilliance, tapping into his physical abilities that give him the potential to be a defensive stopper much like Dexter Dennis. He certainly looked like his teammate in a January home game against Cincinnati when Council was locked in and hounded Cincinnati’s star player, Keith Williams, into empty possession after empty possession.
If he’s able to replicate that effort more often, Council will become even more of a factor for the Shockers and likely see his playing time rise, regardless of whether he starts or comes off the bench.
“He’s a better defender now,” Brown said. “He’s locked in more. He’s buying into our defensive system. He’s in the right positions now. He’s a great athlete, but when defending a lot of times it’s more about being in the right position and knowing what’s going on and understanding scouting reports. He’s gotten a lot better with all of that.”
Staying locked in every defensive possession is hard, especially for someone always looking for his next basket. But Council said he is committed to paying more attention to the details on defense this season and trying to fulfill his potential of becoming a two-way force.
His defensive tutor has been Dennis, who has a similar build and athletic profile as him. When up against Dennis, an elite wing defender, in practice, Council will sometimes replay the encounters where Dennis stopped him and try to replicate it when he’s on defense.
“I feel like my defense has gotten a lot better,” Council said. “I definitely want to be on that Dexter mentality this season because I look up to him as a defender, for sure.
“When I first came in, I couldn’t score on him. I was trying my little high school stuff and it wasn’t working. He didn’t go for none of that. So I had to start studying his defense and then work on it myself and take notes. It definitely helps having someone like that every day in practice that can give you an honest answer.”
The easiest way for Council to take a scoring leap this season
Council proved he could score in bunches, like when he poured in 23 points off the bench in a win over Cincinnati, but he actually wasn’t an efficient scorer last season. Even though he shot 41.7% on three-pointers, Council posted a below-average 98.0 offensive rating (seventh-best in WSU’s rotation) because he only made 40.2% of his two-pointers (more than three-fourths of his attempts) and shot 65.3% on free throws.
The clearest path to upping his efficiency is finishing better at the rim, which isn’t a hard ask for his caliber of athlete. Per Synergy, Council finished just 47.8% of his shots near the rim on a healthy 3.6 attempts per game.
While it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, Council does have a similar thirst for attacking the basket as former Shocker Markis McDuffie, another score-first wing who was two inches taller than Council but did not possess the same level of explosiveness. Still, McDuffie was able to finish on 54.8% of his shots at the rim during his four-year career (2015-19) and made 55.9% of them on 3.1 attempts per game as a freshman during the 2015-16 season.
Even more troubling was that Council finished on just 48.1% (13 of 27) of his attempts near the rim in transition. For perspective, McDuffie finished on 62% of his career attempts near the rim in transition.
Council has all of the makings of being a devastating force in transition, out in the open court where he can let his athleticism take over and punish back-pedaling defenders. He showed the ability last season to go coast-to-coast and make it look easy.
At his best, Council was decisive and aggressive in attacking the basket. But too many times last season he was a touch out of control, which led to wild shot attempts and hopeless tries at drawing a foul.
It’s the easiest area of Council’s game to project massive growth, as those out-of-control forays to the rim should be toned down now that he has a full season of Division I experience. And because WSU seems committed to playing faster this season, his chances for finishing on fast breaks should go up. It’s not hard to imagine Council finishing on upwards of 60% of his shots near the rim this season, even with more attempts — an easy route that could inject more than two points per game to his scoring average alone.
“I always feel like no one can stay in front of me,” Council said. “Coach (Lou) Gudino has been telling me this whole offseason that I need to work on getting even easier buckets for myself. I know I can create my own shots, but those are tough buckets. There are ways for me to help myself out where I can get easier buckets this season.”
Why Council will need his jump shot to unlock his game
Council is a microwave scorer — capable of heating up quickly — and is the perfect weapon for a WSU team that will be looking to establish other scorers besides Etienne, who was voted the preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
He’s the type of scorer that WSU can funnel the ball to at the end of the shot clock because Council has the ability to create his own shot in isolation, a valuable attribute for a program that has struggled in those situations since joining the AAC.
“He has a lot of confidence and he’s never scared of the moment,” WSU coach Isaac Brown said. “Every day in practice he’s breaking somebody down at the end of the shot clock. We want the ball in his hands at the end of the clock because we know he can go create. It’s always good when you have multiple guys who can do that.”
But as more film is collected on him and he becomes a larger factor for WSU, opposing teams are sure to more thoroughly scout him. Once it becomes clear Council is such a threat going toward the basket, it’s inevitable that defenses this season will force Council to beat them with his jump shot.
Defenses found success last season when it forced Council into a mid-range jumper, where he shot just 26% (6 of 23) according to Synergy.
Much like McDuffie, Council has the knack for knocking down difficult jump shots over heavy contests. Being a tough shot-maker has its benefits, like rescuing the offense at the end of the shot clock, but those attempts should be a last resort and not the routine shot. Improving upon the shot selection in the mid-range will be key to Council’s growth this season.
“Ricky’s IQ has improved tremendously and I think he’s made a huge jump from the neck up this season,” Etienne said. “Sometimes in practice he’s even over passing. I had to tell him the other day that we still need him to be in attack mode and be aggressive. I’m super proud of him and I’m excited to see what he can do this season.”
And while Council did make 44.4% of his three-pointers last season, it should be noted that he only attempted 27 three-pointers in 21 total games — barely one per game.
Even if the percentage goes down, the attempts per game needs to go up for Council to force the defense to respect his outside shot. If he can become a reliable spot-up shooter for WSU dotting the perimeter, Council’s offensive gravity will open up the team’s offense even more with him on the floor.
“I stayed in the gym all summer working on my shot,” Council said. “I think my pull-up is getting really good. I’ve been working on that every single day. It’s making the game easier for me. I love getting tough buckets, but the more easier buckets I get the more points I’m going to score.”
The domino effect could be significant for Council the more jumpers he can make. Then defenders will have to try to play him straight up and Council has already proven the ability to consistently win those matchups and get to the rim, where he can be most effective.
In the rare stretches where Etienne rests, Council gives Brown the luxury of a scorer willing and able to carry the offense. And when he shares the floor with Etienne, who almost always draws the opposition’s top wing defender, Council should have plenty of favorable match-ups this season.
If Council can increase his usage and efficiency this season like he believes he can, then his leap could in turn help the Shockers take the leap from a good team to a great one.
“I know Ricky is ready to take it to the next level,” Jackson said. “This year is going to be very, very special.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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