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Xavier lands another grad transfer

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AP Photo/John Minchillo

Xavier had plenty of holes to fill in its roster when Chris Mack left to take the job at Louisville.

New coach Travis Steele has been more than adept at filling those spots with graduate transfers in his short time at the helm.

San Jose State’s Ryan Welage became the third grad transfer to pledge to X in a week when he announced Wednesday that he would be finishing his career with the Musketeers.

“I’m proud to say I will be graduating from SJSU with my KIN degree this summer and will be a grad transfer,” Welage wrote on social media. “With that being said, I’m excited to say I am going to be attending Xavier University for my senior year!”

The 6-foot-9, 2-5-pound Welage averaged 18.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 34.6 minutes per game for the Spartans last season. He has averaged double figures in all three of his seasons at SJSU.

Welage joins Kyle Castlin (Columbia) and Zach Hankins (Division II Ferris State) as graduate transfers set to finish their careers under Steele. The first-year head coach is already proving to be adept at moving quickly and competing in what has become an incredibly competitive transfer market. Steele will still have to build Xavier for the long-haul, but his recruiting pitch appears to be finely tuned.