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Read Riley Welch’s open letter about a painful year for UK Basketball

Riley Welch was a walk-on with the Kentucky Basketball program for the past two seasons; the most painful two-year stretch in the program’s history.

Welch arrived on campus in 2019 as a transfer from College of the Desert, the son of a coach hoping to learn the craft from John Calipari by spending two years as a reserve player on the end of UK’s bench. However, things did not go as he, or anyone, could’ve imagined.

In Welch’s first season in 2019-20, Kentucky was ready for a tournament run when COVID shut down the sport and the planet.