Graduate transfer Ryan Welage commits to Xavier

The Travis Steele era is off to a fast start—he’s already acquired two new coaches and three grad transfers including the newest addition to the Xavier Musketeers, Ryan Welage.

Welage was a standout at San Jose State for three seasons. He put up gaudy numbers for the Spartans in his three-year career, shooting at a .436 shooting percentage. He also shores up an area that Xavier lost to graduation: long-range shooting. He has the ability to fill it up from deep and proved that by stroking nearly 39 percent from beyond the arc this year.

The 6-9, 205 pound forward is somewhat of a local product, from Greensburg, In., which is only about an hour’s drive away from Xavier. By the end of his third season as a Spartan, he ranked sixth all-time in scoring and was the program’s all-time leader in three-point field goals made.

From a numbers standpoint, this season was Welage’s best in his collegiate career. He not only averaged a team-high 18.1 points per game but those numbers were a nearly a whole five-point jump from last season.

Welage now adds depth to a frontcourt that lost two productive big men, Sean O’Mara and Kerem Kanter, to graduation. Per Welage’s Twitter posting he said, “I’m excited to say I am going to be attending Xavier University for my senior year!”