May 22, 2017
San José State men's basketball sophomore forward Ryan Welage is often the first one in the gym getting shots up before a home game. Those who follow the program closely know that his success on the hardwood is a product of pure hard work.The Greensburg, Ind., native is clearly putting just as much or even more effort into his future beyond basketball. The result of his determination is a 3.77 cumulative grade point average, one of the highest among any male student-athlete at San José State since his arrival at the university in the fall of 2015.Welage will finish his second school year as an undergraduate kinesiology major this May, but not before some very tough finals."I've got biomechanics and environmental nutrition finals still ahead of me," Welage said. "This is my first semester taking all classes within my major and it has definitely been the most challenging one so far."Welage is on track to repeat as an Academic All-Mountain West honoree for the 2016-17 school year. To qualify for academic all-conference a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average while competing in at least 50 percent of the team's contests. The 6-foot-9 forward played in all 30 games for the Spartans this season, making 27 starts and averaging 13.2 points per game."In school I have to work very hard to achieve the results that I want," said Welage. "I've been blessed with some things that come a little bit more naturally to me, but mostly I have to work really hard at it."The hard work paid off last month with the outstanding recognition as a Dean's Scholar at San José State University's 2017 Honors Convocation.Welage or "Welly" as he's known around the program says a big summer is up ahead because of a human physiology course he plans to knock out. "It's going to be an important summer. I'll have a few weeks to go home and visit with family before I come back to get one of the hardest classes taken care of."Something to look forward to on the other side of finals and summer school is a mission trip to China with Athletes In Action before returning to SJSU for his junior campaign.