A familiar name is joining Jai Lucas’ staff at Miami. Former Kentucky walk-on and graduate assistant Riley Welch will serve as special assistant to the head coach in Lucas’ first season with the Hurricanes.
The two connected when Lucas was an assistant on John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky (2020-22) and Welch was a walk-on (2019-21) who became a graduate assistant (2021-23). Welch’s father John, a longtime NBA assistant coach, spent the 2023-24 season on Calipari’s staff, helping modernize the Wildcats’ offense. Riley has long talked about his desire to follow in his father’s footsteps. He spent the past two seasons with the Grand Rapids Gold, the Denver Nuggets’ G League affiliate, first as a video coordinator (2023-24) and then as an assistant (2024-25).
“Riley is someone who lives and breathes basketball, having grown up around the sport from a young age,” Lucas said in a press release. “We had the opportunity to cross paths at Kentucky when he was a player and graduate assistant coach, and I knew he’d be the perfect addition to our staff because of his basketball knowledge and positive attitude.”
On Kentucky’s staff, Welch coordinated and facilitated individual workouts, assisted in the planning of official visits, and created play call sheets for the coaching staff. During his time with the Grand Rapids Gold, he was in charge of the team’s defensive strategy while also leading player development workouts and assisting in opponent scouting.
Welch transferred to Kentucky in 2019-20 after stops at UC Irvine and College of the Desert, more with coaching in mind than playing.
“It’ll be huge for me starting my coaching career,” Welch told CatsPause ahead of his Senior Day in 2021. ”Getting to see Coach Cal up close and in person every day and how he handles teams, how he handles individuals, how he deals with his staff, and then also I’ve been fortunate to play for an unbelievable set of coaching staffs in the two years that I’ve been here. The relationships that I’ve made with Coach (Tony) Barbee, Coach (Bruiser) Flint, Coach (Jai) Lucas, Coach (John Robic) Robes, Coach (Joel) Justus, Coach (Kenny) Payne last year, it’s really helped me see how they deal with high-level players. How they get them to buy into being a team, playing for something more than themselves and how playing for something more than yourself will also benefit you and benefit all of your teammates.”
Now, Welch joins Lucas in Miami for what will be Lucas’ first season as a head coach. Lucas left Kentucky to join Jon Scheyer’s staff in 2022 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2023. He may end up bringing a former Duke commit with him. Five-star forward Shelton Henderson decommitted from Duke on Thursday, and Miami is considered the frontrunner, with Lucas serving as his primary recruiter in Durham. So far, Lucas has commitments from four transfers and two 2025 recruits, four-star combo guard Dante Allen and Slovakian small forward Timotej Malovec (a KK Mega Basket teammate of Kentucky commit Andrija Jelavic).
Congrats to Welch on a big step forward in his career.
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