RileyWelch

Former Kentucky men’s basketball player Riley Welch has worked with the UK staff as a graduate assistant coach for each of the last two seasons.

He has been an integral part of player development, including organizing and executing pregame workouts. Welch is tasked with coordinating and facilitating individual workouts and film sessions to improve skills, decision making and efficiency. During his tenure on staff, Oscar Tshiebwe was tabbed the 2022 consensus National Player of the Year, while four additional Wildcats (Chris Livingston, Cason Wallace, Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington Jr.) were recognized as All-Southeastern Conference performers.

Welch has been extremely involved in UK’s scouting and game-planning. He oversees in-game use of film and bench technology during competition, and aides the staff in scouting preparation which includes but is not limited to play-call sheets, scouting notes and film edits.

Kentucky will welcome the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for the 2022-23 season and Welch played a part in assisting in on-campus visit logistics and prep work for vital recruiting materials utilized by the staff.

Prior to joining the bench as a member of the coaching staff, Welch enjoyed a two-year career with the Wildcats and graduated in May of 2021 with an undergraduate degree in liberal studies.

He appeared in 34 career games as a Division I player split between two years at Kentucky and one at UC Irvine. Welch also played one season at the College of the Desert where he averaged 8.2 points and 5.0 assists per game.

The Littleton, Colorado, native earned Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll honors in 2021 and participated in the 2020 SEC Career Tour. He was a two-time Dean’s List honoree at UC Irvine.