By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
On a team of high profile, future Arkansas Razorbacks, as well as a team consisting of seven NCAA Division I signees, it was little-known, Louisiana Tech-bound, former Jacksonville Red Devil Raheem Appleby who shone brightest at the 2011 Arkansas High School Basketball All Star game. Appleby’s 15-point performance, most of which came in the final period when the game was on the line, earned him the game’s Most Valuable Player award, ahead top-50 recruits and future Hogs Ky Madden and Hunter Mickelson.
In the five-quarter, All-Star game format, starters play one quarter, second stringers the next, third stringers the next, and the second half is devoted to trying to win the game.
Appleby was dubbed a third-stringer by coach Rick Wilson of Rivercrest, but Wilson had plenty of reason to keep Appleby on the court when the closer-than-expected game was on the line in the final period.
Appleby entered the game to start the final period with his East team up by two points. A quick two buckets by the West team put the East down. That’s when Appleby took over. He ignited his team and the crowd with a dunk that started from a step inside the free-throw line. Minutes later, he capped the exciting, game-winning run with an assist off the backboard for a thunderous dunk by a teammate.
“It felt good,” Appleby said. “There was a lot of talent up there, and I got the MVP. I wasn’t ranked like some of the others I played with, so maybe that was a statement I made.”
That statement being that the 6-foot-3 Appleby is on the level of the top players in his class, a class that is one of, if not the, highest rated classes to ever come out of Arkansas.
Appleby was surprised that he got the award, but not because he didn’t think he’d played well enough. When players from each team received the award for the team’s Outstanding Player, he thought the post-game ceremonies were over. Then he heard his named called to receive the MVP award.
“I didn’t know there were two awards,” Appleby said. “When Ky got the first one, I didn’t even think there was going to be another one.
Appleby’s high-school coach Vic Joyner wasn’t surprised that his former charge turned in that kind of performance.
“Raheem, hands down in my estimation, is the best pure basketball player in the state,” Joyner said. “Not just my estimation, but a lot of college coaches thought the same thing. The only thing they were apprehensive about was his size. I tried to explain to them that he always did this kind of thing against the best players in the state, and in one of the best runs of talent the state’s ever had. He’s the real deal. He has all the intangibles, so much character and guts. I’ve had a couple people who know tell me, if he puts on some muscle and some weight, he might get to the league.”
Appleby is fully qualified and ready to play for the Bulldogs as a freshman. He is enrolling early to take summer school classes and begin preparation for his first season. He will report to Ruston on July 6.
