Ricky Council IV

Ricky Council IV
Born	(2001-08-03) August 3, 2001 Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	2023–present
Known for	Playing for the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets in the NBA

Ricky Nickardo Council IV (born August 3, 2001) is a professional basketball athlete from the United States currently playing for the Brooklyn Nets in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He competed at the collegiate level for both the Wichita State Shockers and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Early life

Council was raised in Durham, North Carolina and attended the Southern School of Energy and Sustainability. During his senior year, he earned third-team All-State honors while averaging 23 points, 9.5 rebounds, and five assists each game. Rated as a three-star recruit, he committed to Wichita State, choosing them over multiple mid-major offers including Rice, Appalachian State, Elon, Hofstra, UMBC, Georgia Southern, Siena, James Madison, and Coastal Carolina.

College career

Starting his college basketball journey at Wichita State, Council posted averages of 7.1 points and 3.4 rebounds across 21 contests, securing a place on the American Athletic Conference (AAC) All-Freshman team. In his sophomore season, he appeared in all 28 games with seven starts, improving to 12 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game, which earned him the AAC Sixth Man of the Year award. After initially entering the 2022 NBA draft, he withdrew and opted to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

He transferred to Arkansas, selecting them over offers from prominent programs such as Kansas, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, and Iowa State. At Arkansas, Council was recognized with second team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors during his junior year while averaging 16.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. After participating in the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, he declared for the 2023 NBA draft, foregoing any remaining eligibility.

Philadelphia 76ers / Delaware Blue Coats (2023–2025)

Undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Council signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on July 1, 2023. He was waived on October 20 but returned to sign another two-way deal on October 25.

Council made his NBA debut on January 2, 2024, contributing to a 110–97 victory over the Chicago Bulls. On February 10, he achieved a career-best performance with 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Washington Wizards. He secured a standard contract with Philadelphia on April 13, 2024.

On January 26, 2025, Council was briefly assigned to the Delaware Blue Coats via an standard assignment. Throughout the 2024–25 NBA season, he appeared in 73 games for Philadelphia—including 12 starts—averaging 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per contest. The Sixers waived him on July 25.

Brooklyn Nets (2025–present)

Council signed a one-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets on August 1, 2025.

NBA

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 32 || 0 || 9.0 || .482 || .375 || .746 || 1.4 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 5.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 73 || 12 || 17.1 || .382 || .258 || .804 || 2.9 || 1.3 || 0.4 || 0.2 || 7.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Total | 105 || 12 || 14.7 || .402 || .273 || .786 || 2.5 || 1.1 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 6.7

College

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21 | style="text-align:left;"| Wichita State | 21 || 1 || 15.6 || .421 || .444 || .636 || 3.4 || 1.0 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 7.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22 | style="text-align:left;"| Wichita State | 28 || 7 || 26.6 || .437 || .306 || .849 || 5.4 || 1.6 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 12.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23 | style="text-align:left;"| Arkansas | 36 || 29 || 34.1 || .433 || .270 || .794 || 3.6 || 2.3 || 1.1 || 0.3 || 16.1 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Overall | 85 || 37 || 27.1 || .432 || .303 || .786 || 4.2 || 1.7 || 0.9 || 0.3 || 12.5

Personal life

Council’s two elder siblings, Ricky Council II and Ricky Council III, have also competed in collegiate basketball.