There are pluses and minuses to being over 6-foot-8 inches tall, as Welsh brothers Thomas and Henry will attest.
Thomas is a 7-foot rising sophomore center for UCLA. Henry Welsh is a 6-9 rising senior center for Loyola-Los Angeles High. Henry will play for the South in the Prep2Prep California All-Star Classic game on Aug. 30 at Las Positas College in Livermore.
“My wife does a lot of online shopping,” said the boys’ father, Pat Welsh. “The other day we went to the Dodgers-Reds game and it was fun to hear the people walking in behind us with those two boys walking together. There were a lot of heads turning and fingers pointing, but the boys are comfortable being that big. They’ve embraced it.”
Henry was 6-5 in the eighth grade, so he knows the drill.
“It’s normal for me,” he said. “I’ve been this way my whole life. People ask me how tall I am a lot or if I play basketball or volleyball.”
Thomas is the first Loyola High basketball player to play hoops at UCLA as a freshman since Toby Bailey in 1994. He averaged 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks last season for the Bruins. Thomas and Henry played one season together at Loyola High, when Henry was a sophomore and Thomas a senior.
"He was hard on me and beat me down a few times, but I didn't let it stop me," Henry said. “I knew that if I worked hard that I’d be on a similar path as him.”
Said Pat Welsh: “It was challenging for Henry, but I told him he just needs to be Henry and not worry about someone else’s expectations.”
The height hasn’t hurt the rising senior on the basketball court. Last season he averaged 11 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots for the Cubs. UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Barbara, Brown, Lehigh, Harvard and Santa Clara have all shown interest.
Santa Clara University is where his parents, Pat and Kathy, met. Pat played basketball at Rim of the World-Lake Arrowhead High and rowed in college, but is only 6-2. Kathy (maiden name Boken) is 6 feet and played volleyball at Santa Clara.
But Kathy's dad is 6-9 and she has a brother who is 6-10, so that’s where the height emanates. The athletic genes are there as well. Henry’s great grandfather, Bob Boken, played for the Washington Senators in 1933 and the Chicago White Sox in 1934. One of Henry’s uncles played basketball and volleyball at Loyola Marymount University and another played basketball at Montana.
Now Henry Welsh is making his own name on the hardwood.
“I feel good about the way things are going,” Henry said. “I’ve made steady progress. I’ve put in my work on the weights, on the track and on the court.”
Henry has also hit the books, boasting a grade point average of 4.5. This fall his class load includes three Advance Placement classes – art history, calculus BC and physics. So he’s not padding his GPA with basket weaving and pottery.
On the court Henry is extending his range, working on his 3-point shot. He’s also improving his medium-range shots and developing his mid-post moves. Glenn Marx, a coach for the the AAU Los Angeles Rockfish, is helping.
“I just want to play as long as I can,” Welsh said. “I’m improving and learning about the game and I just want to see where the game takes me.”
