Arkansas coach Eric Musselman pays strong compliment to transfer addition Ricky Council IV

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman is piecing together an all new roster for next season. The Razorbacks are bringing in 11 newcomers between six recruits and five transfers from the portal. Amongst the transfers is Wichita State product Ricky Council IV. Of all the new faces in Fayetteville, he’s caught Musselman’s eye early.

During a press conference last week where he discussed summer workouts, he said Council had done something every practice that impressed.

“Ricky has at least one wild moment every practice. At minimum one,” said Musselman. “It might be a dunk, it might be a finish in traffic. But he plays with an incredible energy.”

Council has averaged 9.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in two seasons with the Shockers. He produced those numbers from a bench role with only eight career college starts. He may continue to be a reserve at Arkansas, but his experience will be invaluable for his younger teammates. Musselman says Council does something effort-wise in practice that he’s never seen before in his coaching career.

“I’ve never had a player in 5-on-0 in all my years, including the NBA and minor league, run the wing so hard,” he said. “To me, it’s going to factor in his playing time (because) he runs that hard quite frankly. He’s doing that in 5-on-0.”

Council is trying to carve out a new role on an Arkansas team that has spots up for grabs. He has impressed his new coach early simply by working hard during his short stint with the Razorbacks this summer. It’s that kind of work ethic that Musselman says will have the 6’6 guard playing early and often next season.

“What all this is about is who do you trust by how they conduct themselves daily in practice? I got a lot of trust in Ricky. I can tell you that right now just by how hard he’s running, playing, and doing the things we want.”