Chris Appel is a retired American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He is known for his

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

college career at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. Appel came to

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

from

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. His ...

Hollywood, Los Angeles Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

. He came into his own in his sophomore year, averaging 13.4 points per game, lifting the Trojans into the

1961 NCAA tournament Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United St ...

, and joining teammate

John Rudometkin John Rudometkin (June 6, 1940 – August 4, 2015) was an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks and San Francisco Warriors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the second round as the 11th ...

as a unanimous first-team all-conference choice. As a senior, Appel repeated on the all-conference team and was named a second-team All-American by the

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

magazine. After completing his college career, Appel was drafted by the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the ...

in the third round of the

1962 NBA draft The 1962 NBA draft was the 16th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 26, 1962, before the 1962–63 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

(24th pick overall). He elected not to pursue a career in professional basketball and instead became a teacher and school administrator and spent decades conducting basketball clinics in Asia, Africa and all over the world. Appel began this work due to both his basketball skill and background and his ability to speak French, learned from his Russian and French parents. His first assignments were in French-speaking Cambodia.

References

External links

College stats @ the Draft Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Appel, Chris Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American people of French descent American people of Russian descent Basketball players from Los Angeles Cincinnati Royals draft picks Guards (basketball) People from Hollywood, Los Angeles USC Trojans men's basketball players Year of birth missing (living people) Hollywood High School alumni