Men's Basketball | 11/18/2022 12:18:00 PM

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Head coach Butch Estes and the men's basketball team have received a commitment from New Castle (Ind.) High School senior Gavin Welch to join the Buccaneer squad in fall of 2023. Welch becomes the first Buccaneer signee for the class of 2027.

"Gavin plays in a big-time atmosphere at New Castle," says Estes on the 10,000-seat arena where former Hoosiers Steve Alford and Kent Benson also competed for the Trojans. "He is a 6-5 bouncy athlete with great shooting range, and he'll join our growing list of Buccaneers with Indiana roots."

Welch will be among fellow Hoosiers on The Shores with Nick Anderson and Malik Stanley on the current squad.

From the David Risley article in The Courier Times: "I'm super excited about my signing with Barry," Welch remarked. "I gave the process a lot of thought, and I wanted to make my choice before the season began. Now I can focus on my senior season and enjoy playing with my boys."

Welch cites the warm weather in south Florida as a big factor in his draw to The Shores. He's leaning toward business as a major, likely accounting. "Both of my siblings, my brother (Garrett) and sister (Laryssa), majored in accounting and both are accountants now. There are a lot of career opportunities with a degree in that."

New Castle varsity boys basketball head coach Daniel Cox feels that Welch has made an excellent choice for his next step. "Coach Estes has put together one of the best Division II programs in the nation," Cox said, "one that is consistently ranked in the top 20. Over the last decade, Coach Estes has had 20 of his players go on to play professional basketball somewhere. When a coach and a program like that want you, that speaks volumes about Gavin's ability, and I think Gavin is just scratching the surface of his potential. He should get better and better down there."