Cooper Welsh '24 Recruiting Profile

Collegiate Goals and Aspirations: To play college basketball while getting a degree in Business/Finance.

What Makes Me a GREAT Candidate For Your Team: 

1. I'm a leader on and off the court.   High emotional IQ and do not get rattled easily.

2.  I know where all 10 players are on the court all the time.

3.  I'm a consistent three level scorer; however, I always looking for the best shot whether it's mine or my teammates.   Offensive success to me is being disciplined to know what a good shot is and TAKE it.   But more importantly, to be even more disciplined to know when it's NOT a good shot and PASS it. 

4.  My defense generates a ton of offense for my team with defensive stops (DRs, steals, strips, deflections).  

5. At 6'2 and only 165lbs, I am confident at guarding any position and am able to disrupt my opponent on a consistent basis.

What makes you different from other recruits in character, athletics and academics?  

Character - 

1. I will always put the team first - even if that means sacrificing my own personal accolades.  I thrive in getting my teammates the ball and honestly don't care who scores as long as OUR team scores more than our OPPONENT does.  Just watch my body language when my teammates score off my assists.  

2.  I've been selected as a Senior Student Ambassador to present to parents and prospective Freshman about "What Makes St Thomas Aquinas A Great School".  I will represent Aquinas at several events throughout the year.  This selection required a minimum of 7 faculty/staff members nominations and an interview process.

3. I'm loyal and hard working.  Don't make excuses or blame others when adversity strikes.  I control the controllables, and do what I can to improve the situation if it's not going my way.  

Athletics - 

1. I'm a dual sport athlete (soccer and basketball).  Soccer helps with my footwork and endurance in basketball. 

2. Second Year team captain on my soccer team, 1st Team All-State (2023), 2nd Team All- EKL (2023), HM All- EKL (2022, 2021), Voted Aquinas Boys 2023 Soccer MVP by my teammates.

3.  Three Year Varsity Basketball Player (sophomore, junior and senior)

4.  4 Straight 5A State Soccer appearances (1st, 3rd, 3rd, 4th) - Been a witness to understanding what's required to maintain a high standard of excellence in athletics and know how to help my team be successful and WIN. 

Academics -

1. St. Thomas Aquinas is a college prep school.  I'm proud that I have maintained a 3.5 GPA given the rigorous academic standards the faculty holds us accountable to.

2. I'm able to maintain this GPA regardless of playing two sports and working two jobs - one of which is my own lawn mowing business.  

I've been blessed with many athletic opportunities in high school.  I am just looking for an opportunity to play college basketball.  Most important, is finding a program that values my style of play and aligns with the core principles outlined above.

-Cooper Welsh