For the second time in two years, Xavier has picked up a guard in his fifth year of college from a Missouri Valley Conference school to serve as a depth option and glue guy. Last year it was Isaiah Walker who, through injury to others and his own effectiveness ended up being much more than that, becoming a bit of a cult hero in his one year at X. Braden Appelhans has all the makings of another such player, who can find a way to contribute while never flirting with stardom in his own right.
Appelhans is familiar to much of the coaching staff at Xavier, having spent three seasons at New Mexico, one of which was cut short by injury, under Richard Pitino and company. He ended up appearing 57 times across those three seasons, only averaging 8.1 minutes per game, and a quick glance at his numbers makes it clear what he was out there to do. His bread and butter is shooting and for his career he is an even 40% from three and 72% from the line. He knows his job and he sticks to it. He has posted just four multi assist games in his career, two multi turnover games, two multi steal games, heck he has only committed multiple fouls in a gme nine times in his 84 appearances. He is going to give you a threat from deep, hit his free throws, and dap people up during timeouts. In Xavier's three exhibition games this season he has played five total minutes and has a cumulative line of 5/0/1 on 1-1 from three, his only field goal attempt, and 2-2 from the line.
He brings experience gathered between his three seasons at New Mexico and last year at Drake, and a track record for shooting the ball well whenever he is called on. Xavier has a well stocked backcourt this year full of established and potential stars, but like Walker showed last year sometimes things don't go to plan and there is value in having a steady, team first guy to go do his thing for a few minutes. Appelhans caught fire and lit up Western Illinois for 30 last season on 10-14 from deep, but beyond that he has hit double figures just four times in his career against DI opposition. He may not ending up playing minutes that matter this year, but he is proven in a couple of areas and brings another depth piece for a Xavier team trying to find its way back to the NCAA Tournament this season.
