Wright State’s Welage changes mind, opts for one more season

The 6-foot-6 wing was one of the team’s top shooters until injury and illness all but derailed his senior season. Shortly after the Raiders were bounced from the Horizon League tourney in March, he packed his bags, put on a suit and began interviewing for management jobs in the business world.

He hadn’t gotten any offers and found nothing that really intrigued him, but he was adamant about having moved on from hoops — even if the staff wasn’t ready to let him go.

“Coach (Clint) Sargent called me one morning, and he just said, ‘What are you doing? Why aren’t you playing?’ At that point, it was kind of tough because I’d completely flipped the switch to being done with basketball, and I hadn’t worked out or touched a ball in two months, maybe three,” Welage said.

“All the coaches called me, and it was about a day’s process of just talking to them a ton and evaluating everything.”

All five assistants called? Really?

“I think I had a conversation with every single coach that day,” Welage said. “And coach Sergeant and I talked back and forth a couple times.

“Same thing with my roommates (Alex Huibregtse and Brandon Noel), who I’d been here with for five years. They were texting me, and when I told them about the coaches calling me and that I was thinking about coming back, they were thrilled.”

Sargent had been scouring the transfer portal to fill a need for one more shooter — and then he remembered the guy who led the Raiders in 3-point percentage in 2023-24 (.452) and 2022-23 (.477).

He’s already had several recruiting victories in his first seven months, but none has been more satisfying than getting Welage to reverse course.

“We just had some honest conversations,” Sargent recalled. “I said, ‘There’s two paths here, and if you take the path of not playing a fifth year with this group of teammates and coaches, you’re running a risk of a high level of regret. The business world will always be there for you.

“‘How about you take a couple days to think about it. Talk to your teammates again.’ And he called back and said he was in.”

Knowing how much he was wanted may have swayed his decision, but it wasn’t the only factor.

His average had dipped last season to 5.1 points in 15.5 minutes per game from 6.7 in 16.8 as a junior, and he said: “The more I thought about it, that just wasn’t the way I’d like to see my career end here.”

Welage knows getting back into the playing mix won’t be easy. When he waved good-bye to hoops, he also said sayonara to staying fit.

“My shot returned pretty quickly, but it’s taken me a really long time to just get back into shape,” he said.

“I’ve lost, like, 20 pounds since being back. It’s been a grind.”

But Sargent knows what a vintage Welage means to the team: “Andrew has big-game experience. Some of the plays he made against Northern Kentucky two years ago, you just can’t find that.”

He was referring to the 72-71 win over NKU in the 2022 league title game. Welage played 18 minutes and had three assists, two points and no turnovers.

He followed that with six points, three assists and three rebounds in 14 minutes in the program’s first NCAA tourney win, a First Four victory over Bryant.

His best showing, though, was a 25-point effort last season against his home-state Indiana Hoosiers. He went 8 of 13 from the field, including 7 of 10 on 3′s.

“He has so much to him,” Sargent said. “He’s a confident kid. He just had poorly timed sickness and injuries that really kept him from getting into a rhythm last season. But he’s found it right now.

“I’m praying it continues because I have high hopes for him in his last year here.”

UK GAME: The Raiders’ season opener at Kentucky will be on ESPNU at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4.