Seattle’s Collin Welp poised to have big senior season for UC Irvine basketball
IRVINE, Calif. — Collin Welp has always been destined to play NCAA Division I basketball. The 6’9” forward grew up in Seattle, Washington, in a basketball home. His father, Chris Welp, is originally from Germany and played professional basketball in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, and Golden State Warriors before playing almost a decade overseas. Chris played college basketball for the University of Washington Huskies from 1983-1987 and left as their leading scorer.
It would be safe to say that having a father that played in the NBA would give anyone some big basketball shoes to fill. There is a possibility that Collin can fill those shoes. He played high school basketball at Seattle Prep High School and had a very impressive career there finishing with over 1,000 career points. Collin was a two-time all-league player and reached the Washington State Tournament twice. It is also worth noting that he excelled in the classroom, making the honor roll all four years of high school.
In Collin’s senior year at Seattle Prep, he was a force on the court. He averaged 17 points and seven rebounds a game and was named to the Washington All-State team. He was only a two-star recruit out of high school, but received a scholarship to play basketball for the UC Irvine Anteaters.
Collin redshirted his freshman year at UC Irvine (UCI). He finally got to play in his second season at UCI. He came off the bench and played meaningful minutes. In 15.9 minutes a games, he averaged 8.6 points and 4.3 rebounds and was named to the All-Big West Tournament Team. Collin only continued to get better after that.
He became the Anteaters’ sixth man as a redshirt sophomore. Collin played in all 32 games in the COVID-19 shortened season and led his team in scoring (13 PPG) and 3-point field goal percentage (44.2%). He was named to the All-Big West First Team.
As great as that his redshirt sophomore season was, he stepped it up as a junior. Collin averaged 15.1 points per game, 7.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 steals as a starter. He was named to All-Big West First Team for the second time.
Collin is about to start his senior season for the Anteaters. He was named on the watch list for the 2021-22 Lou Henson National Player of the Year (an award given annually to the top mid-major player in Division I basketball). He will try to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in their history. Whatever happens, the Anteaters are in good hands with Collin Welp as their captain.
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