Chloe Welch’s playing career is over, but she’s still part of the St. Joe’s women’s basketball team

Chloe Welch has always been willing to step into a new position if her coach asked.

After exhausting her collegiate eligibility at St. Joseph’s last season, she stepped into another new position for the 2024-25 basketball season: graduate manager.

“I’ve always been ready and willing to learn, and I think that these opportunities are really awesome,” said Welch, who’s from Colorado Springs, Colo. “Even if it’s a task I don’t really understand, I know that I can if I put my mind to it, and it’s an opportunity to learn and acquire a new skill. So it’s really exciting for me.”

Welch spent the first four years of her playing career at Davidson. Once Welch realized she had a final season as a player left, she was in conversation with St. Joe’s about transferring for her fifth year. Even then, transitioning into a coaching role was part of the conversation.

“That was always the plan, and then once I finished playing last year, we readdressed it, and they asked again if I was interested, and I still was,” Welch said. “I wanted to get more in the minds of my coaches, because as a player, it’s a little bit of a different dynamic because they’re teaching you. I wanted to know what happened behind the scenes, and that’s what I’m doing now.”

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That work behind the scenes includes an array of jobs. If a coach, the director of basketball operations, or a video specialist needs something, Welch is there. Welch’s role includes cutting film from a game or practice, participating as a practice plater, and helping run workouts. She even helps organize recruiting information and build class schedules for players and managers.

Despite mostly playing at another Atlantic 10 school, Welch said, she wanted to continue at St. Joe’s after her experience as a player during the Hawks’ record-breaking season.

That appreciation is reciprocated. Head coach Cindy Griffin was quick to point out the “coach’s passion” Welch has for the game and brings to her position.

“She loves to play,” Griffin said after the Hawks’ 69-53 win over Howard on Dec. 20. “She loves to study the game. But she is in practice with these guys. She is defending them, the point guards. She did an unbelievable job preparing our guards for this game, for the length that we were going to see, for the quickness we’re going to see. And she does it in a quiet way, but she’s certainly not quiet on the court. Her game is still pretty good. She’s been exceptional, and she is a willing coworker, anything that we needed her to do. She wants to learn, and she’s ready to do whatever she can to help this team win.”

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In a position in which she has to be “versatile and accessible,” Welch has been able to take a step back and address one of her weaknesses as a player: not seeing the big picture. Now, she’s seeing the game from “an expanded perspective.”

“I’m trying to see the game from a bigger lens and get the ball here for this reason and see the next play, and because of that, be able to help my teammates see that as well,” she said.

While Welch isn’t certain what she wants to do going forward, she is certain that her experience with the team is preparing her for whatever is to come. St. Joe’s (12-4, 3-2 A-10) next plays Fordham on Wednesday at Hagan Arena (7 p.m., ESPN+).

“I’m pretty certain that just the mindset that I have going day in and day out of the office of being really versatile and willing to learn and acquire these new skills will only help me in whatever I want to do,” Welch said. “The more skills you have, the more valuable you are. I just keep that in mind and try to try to learn something new every day.”