Lobo hoops notebook: Nelly Junior Joseph invited to college All-Star game; Appelhans to Drake, Borovicanin to Xavier

Ten days ago, Nelly Junior Joseph sat in a locker room inside Rocket Arena in Cleveland, dejected about his college basketball career coming to an end, but grateful for his time as a UNM Lobo.

“I’m super happy,” he told the Journal. “At least I got to win my first game in the NCAA Tournament.”

Now, the stellar senior season that landed the 6-foot-10 double-double machine from Nigeria on the All-Mountain West First Team last month has also extended that college career, at least for one more game.

Junior Joseph has been invited to play in Friday’s NABC-Reese’s Division I College All-Star Game in the Alamodome in San Antonio, the arena of this weekend’s Final Four.

He will be wearing jersey No. 32, not his customary 23.

He averaged 14.2 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals this past season for the Lobos.

It marks the third consecutive season a Lobo has been invited to play in the game, with Morris Udeze playing in his hometown of Houston in 2023 and Jaelen House playing in his hometown of Phoenix last season (game actually played in Glendale in the greater Phoenix area).

Both of the past two Lobos in the game were named the event’s Most Valuable Player — Udeze after scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, House after a 16-point, four-assist game.

Friday’s game can be seen on CBS Sports Network at 2:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. CT local).

WELL-CONNECTED TEAMMATE: One of Junior Joseph’s teammates on the West roster on Friday is New Zealand native Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, the 6-6 wing who was named Big West Player of the Year at UC San Diego, where he played for Eric Olen, named head coach of the Lobos on Sunday.

MOUNTAIN WEST TIES: The Mountain West is well represented in the all-star game with current and past league players, including (alphabetical):

• G Caleb Grill, Missouri (played at UNLV in 2021)

• G Max Shulga, VCU (played at Utah State 2021-23)

• G Steven Ashworth, Creighton (played at Utah State 2021-23)

• Junior Joseph, UNM (at UNM past two seasons)

• Kobe Sanders, Nevada (played at Nevada this past season)

Appelhans to Drake

Braden Appelhans, the 6-6 shooting guard for the past three seasons at UNM, will transfer to Missouri Valley Conference school Drake in Des Moines, Iowa.

Appelhans made the announcement Wednesday on his social media accounts.

In three seasons at UNM, Appelhans played 57 games, starting once and averaging 2.7 points and 8.1 minutes per game. He shot 43.8% from 3-point range this past season.

He had a career-high 18 points on Dec. 14 vs. Division II Western New Mexico, hitting five 3-pointers. The game prior to that he had 14 points and hit four 3-pointers in the Dec. 7 loss to New Mexico State, including a corner 3 at the buzzer to tie the game and force overtime.

He played just 10 games before being injured and getting a medical redshirt in the 2022-23 season and still has two seasons of eligibility remaining for the Bulldogs.

Appelhans in 2024 gained national praise when he went public with his battle with depression and anxiety during the season, thanking teammates, the UNM coaching staff and the support available in the athletics department for helping him and encouraging others facing such problems to seek the help they need.

He is now he third Lobo from this past season who has made his transfer decision, joining close friend Donovan Dent, who is headed UCLA, and Filip Borovicanin, who on Tuesday announced he was going to Xavier, following head coach Richard Pitino.

The only Lobo with playing eligibility remaining who has not yet entered the transfer portal is forward Ibrahima Sacko.

MOUNTAIN WEST TRANSFERS: The Lobos aren’t the only team feeling the bite of the transfer portal.

Four of the six players with eligibility left who made the All-Mountain West teams last month (first, second or third team) have already announced they’ve found new homes:

• first team guard Dent, UNM (transferred to UCLA)

• second team forward Nick Davidson, Nevada (transferred to Clemson)

• third team point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., UNLV (transferred to LSU)

• third team guard Obi Agbim, Wyoming (transferred to Baylor)

The two other all-league players who have eligibility remaining are San Diego State’s Miles Byrd, who is testing the NBA Draft waters but, for now, appears to be heading back to the Aztecs if he doesn’t turn pro, and Utah State’s Mason Falslev.

Former Lobo update

Former UNM Lobo and La Cueva High School graduate Kory Alford, the son of Nevada coach and former UNM coach Steve Alford, accepted the associate head coach position at Oral Roberts University on Wednesday.

Kory Alford has coached the past five years at NAIA Huntington (Indiana) University, racking up a 110-48 record with 19 wins over Top 25 teams and four consecutive NAIA National Tournament appearances.

Alford was a walk-on for the Lobos in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons and was a starter on two La Cueva state championship teams (2009 and 2010).