The Huskies honored the program's all-time leading scorer during halftime of a game against Ohio State on Jan. 11.
SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies returned home on Jan. 11 to Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle and exited successful after an 81-74 win against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
It was arguably the Huskies' most efficient win of the season and was an important momentum-builder for upcoming Big Ten games against No. 2 Michigan on Jan. 14 and No. 12 Michigan State on Jan. 17.
But Jan. 11 was about more than the present of the program. It was about honoring one of the most important parts of its past while guaranteeing that past will forever be a part of the future.
During halftime of the game against the Buckeyes, Washington retired the jersey number of Christian Welp.
Welp's No. 40 was hung in the rafters, in the presence of his family, and joined Brandon Roy (No. 3), Isaiah Thomas (No. 2) and Bob Houbregs (No. 25).
Welp died March 1, 2015, due to heart failure. He was 51-years-old.
"He would try to avoid this seat as much as possible," Welp's daughter, Ally Grill, said in a pregame news conference Jan. 11. "I think he knew that this is an honor that he would deserve but he would never expect it. He was a quiet guy that stood in the back and didn't ask for a lot of recognition. But I think, truthfully, if he was here he would definitely be honored. And it was deserved for sure."
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Welp played for the Huskies from 1983-87. During his time in the Pacific Northwest, Welp was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (1984), Pac-10 Player of the Year (1986) and was a three-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection ('85-87).
While Welp was on the team, Washington won two regular season conference championships ('84-85), made it to the NCAA tournament three consecutive seasons ('84-86) and made it to the Sweet 16 once ('84).
"My brothers and I, we knew that he was kind of good at basketball. But it wasn't really until we would go to a restaurant or a game and saw people's interaction with him and how much of a big deal he was. I think that's kind of when my brothers and I would look at him and say 'Wow, okay. He's not just our dad that likes to go fishing and go to the cabin and play with us. He's a big deal.'"
During the ceremony, UW athletic director Pat Chun shared kind words about Welp and his family before turning the mic to Grill, who's speech was applauded by the over 8,000 people in attendance.
Before Welp's jersey was revealed in the rafters, the team aired a video on the jumbotron highlighting the special person and player No. 40 was. Former teammates, including Detlef Schrempf, and current team head coach Danny Sprinkle were among the interviewed parties for the video.
Welp ended his collegiate career as the program's all-time leader in points (2,073); fourth in rebounds (995) and tied for first in blocks (186). He's also second in program history for the most points scored in a single season (729), only behind Houbregs (846).
Welp parlayed his successful college career into a long professional one. He was selected with the 16th overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He had a four-year NBA career, which included stops with the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, before playing overseas in Europe from 1990-99.
Welp was a one-time EuroLeague champion ('97), one-time Greek League and Greek Cup champion ('97), seven-time German League champion ('91-96, '98), three-time German Cup winner ('91, '93, '95) and one-time EuroBasket MVP ('93).
"He loved University of Washington," Grill said. "He came over as a foreign exchange student and this is the college opportunity that he got to play. I think ... it's made an impression on his life forever in terms of how we saw it. ... Just from my family's point of view and just things that we've seen online, it wasn't just our family who really wanted this. A lot of other people in the community thought that this was deserved for him. I think it just took time and it's the right time now and we're glad it's happening."
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