Lobos add one, lose one in portal
Appelhans throws name in ring; UNM picks up former Colo. State standout Tonje
The signs that something was up started Thursday afternoon when coach Richard Pitino dusted off his X account and tweeted a vibrating GIF of a Mexican wolf fluttering around the screen.
Actually, the signs started just a bit earlier when Dana Appelhans tweeted how she was dealing with mixed emotions about her son, Braden, who had just entered the NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal.
It was part of a busy Thursday for the University of New Mexico, which lost a player to the college free agent market and gained another. The loss of Appelhans — who hasn’t ruled out a return to UNM next season — left the Lobos with six open roster spots for the 2024-25 campaign.
One of those was taken moments after Pitino’s prophetic tweet, as former Colorado State guard John Tonje committed to UNM. At 6-foot-6 with 3-point range, he’ll have one year of eligibility remaining and fills a desperate need for the Lobos in the backcourt.
After UNM’s first-round loss to Clemson in the NCAA Tournament last month, Pitino said the focus moving forward was to get bigger at guard. Gone since then are the 6-foot Jaelen House and 6-2 Jamal Mashburn. In via the portal this week is Tonje and 6-2 guard C.J. Noland, formerly of North Texas.
Tonje is coming off an injury-plagued season at Missouri. He spent four years at Colorado State before deciding to spend his graduate year at Mizzou last season.
It didn’t go well. His one year in the SEC never really got going as a summer foot injury before he landed at Mizzou proved to be a major issue. He appeared in just eight games with the Tigers, who lost 19 straight games to end a forgettable 8-24 season that included an 0-18 mark in conference play.
He was a different player at Colorado State, starting all 33 games as a senior in the 2022-23 season, averaging 14.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and conferring 61 3-pointers.
Last season’s team leader in 3s for the Lobos was House with 60.
Appelhans has long been considered the potential 3-point specialist with small forward size, but his first year at UNM was spent dealing with a hand injury while this past season, his redshirt freshman campaign, saw him play in just 16 games and score 40 points.
He revealed in February he had been dealing with depression and mental health issues since arriving at UNM. He shared his struggles trying to find the right combination of prescription drugs to help regulate his situation.
Going public with his issues made him one of the most beloved players on the team. His story made national news, earning him ovations every time he got into a game.
That said, Pitino has worked hard to add length and size to the guard position. He recently lost a recruiting battle for 6-8 small forward and 3-point specialist Jerry Deng. Deng picked Florida State over UNM this week after his one and only season at Hampton.
The transfer portal closes May 1, although players still in the portal can sign with a new team any time before the start of the next school year. After that date, no players can enter the portal.
As of Thursday evening, 1,852 players were either in the portal or had already transferred to a new school.
Appelhans was the third UNM player to announce his exit, following Mashburn and Sebastian Forsling. Mashburn signed with Temple earlier this week while Forsling was still unsigned.
NOTES
The portal is on pace to go over 2,000 names for a second straight year. As of Thursday, 53 players from the Mountain West had jumped in. A handful of those had already found new places, like San Diego State’s Micah Parrish (Ohio State) and Boise State’s Chibuzo Agbo (USC).
New Mexico’s three portal entrants are among the fewest in the conference. San Diego State also has three while UNLV and Air Force each have two.