Applewhite leaving Murray State program
MBB: The rising senior spent the last two years playing for the Racers
Murray State junior forward Alden Applewhite will find a new home to finish his college career after entering the transfer portal.
Applewhite is the latest Racer from last year’s roster to enter the portal after the hiring of Ryan Miller as Murray State’s 18th head coach.
Appearing in all 33 games for the Racers this past season, Applewhite averaged 5.8 points per game, while shooting a career-best 38.0% from three-point range.
His season was highlighted by a career-high 22 points at UIC in Murray State’s double-overtime loss, where all of his points came after halftime.
Arguably the most memorable moments of Applewhite’s season happened at Northern Iowa, where he scored all 11 of his points in a two-minute, 40-second flurry that lifted the Racers to a win over UNI. Here’s the postgame video from Murray State Athletics that spotlighted Applewhite’s heater:
Applewhite started his career at Mississippi State, where he played just two games before suffering a season-ending injury. After transferring to Portland for the 2022-23 season, the Memphis-product wanted to play closer to home, so he transferred to Murray State. He expected to have to sit out the 2023-24 season due to transferring a second time, but a federal injunction against the NCAA’s two-time transfer rule in December made him immediately eligible. Applewhite ended up playing 20 games last season, averaging 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds coming off the bench for the Racers.
Murray State currently has four players who are set to be on next year’s roster playing for new head coach Ryan Miller:
Ben Shtolzberg (6’4 senior guard/3.8 PPG last year at UC Santa Barbara)
KJ Tenner (6’0 sophomore guard/2.4 PPG last year at West Virginia)
Mason Miller (6’9 senior guard/1.1 PPG last year at Creighton)
Fredrick King (6’9 senior forward/2.7 PPG last year at Creighton)
With Applewhite entering the transfer portal, here are the six players who could return to the Racers next year, but have yet to make anything official:
Patrick Chew (6’3 junior guard/0.3 PPG, 0.4 RPG last year)
Nick Ellington (6’7 grad forward — has entered the transfer portal, but isn’t ruling out returning to Murray State/9.9 PPG/5.4 RPG last year)
KyeRon Lindsay (6’8 senior forward — has entered the transfer portal, but Murray State appears interested in bringing him back/6.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG last year)
Justin Morgan (6’6 senior guard/2.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG last year)
Tristian Ford (6’3 incoming freshman guard)
Kaden Rickard (6’5 incoming freshman forward)
I hate to see him go. He had good improvement over his first year here and I think he could have been a valuable player for us this year. I'd hoped his Memphis connection would have meant him staying on here. I hope he excels at his new home.
I’m thinking this is best for Alden, and the team moving forward. Maybe he’ll have a “Moore” season somewhere else.