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Louisiana Tech’s formerly injured guard takes step forward in the Bahamas

Raheem Appleby, Markel Brown

Raheem Appleby, Markel Brown

AP

Summer trips to play exhibition games have proven to be valuable for many college basketball teams, with the exhibitions allowing coaches to evaluate rotations and players establishing better on-court chemistry. Another reason why they’re valuable is that for players whose prior seasons were derailed by injury can work off the rust that may have developed while they were on the sidelines.

That’s the case for Louisiana Tech guard Raheem Appleby, who missed the final 12 games of the 2013-14 season with an ankle injury. Michael White’s Bulldogs still won 29 games and reached the title game of the Conference USA tournament, but there’s little doubt that the Bulldogs could have used a player who averaged 11.2 points per game as a junior.

During the team’s trip to the Bahamas Appleby averaged more than 16 points per game, showing that he’s back to full strength and the improved health has resulted in the senior playing like the player he was prior to the injury.

Appleby averaged 16.6 points and looked like his old self out on the court, according to White.

“It was nice for him to get extended minutes and get into a little bit of a rhythm,” White said. “I think he’s probably a little more confident today than he was a couple of weeks ago because he had to hit some timely baskets for us.”


The Bulldogs have to account for the loss of two of their top three scorers, with Kenyon McNeail and Chris Anderson both out of eligibility. But with key players such as Appleby, fellow guards Alex Hamilton and Kenneth Smith and center Michale Kyser back, Louisiana Tech should once again be a factor in the Conference USA race.

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