MORRISVILLE – Hazen Union alum Rick Welcome will be on the sidelines this coming winter as the new head coach for the Peoples Academy (PA) varsity girls basketball program.
Welcome graduated from Hazen in 2003 and played for current Wildcat head coach Aaron Hill, scoring 579 career points, averaging just under 10 points per game. He’s worked in the PA girls basketball feeder program the last few years, coaching the Lady Wolves middle school team last season.
Welcome takes over a PA varsity girls program that won 29 games from 2021-2023, including a trip to the Division III Final four in 2023 behind 1,000-point scorer Shelby Wells (1,129). The program fell off a cliff after Wells’ departure last spring, electing not to play in the Division III tournament on the heels of a one-win season. Welcome will be attempting to rebuild the program from the ground up as they continue to search for their first state title since 1979. PA athletic director Gabriela Silva says she appreciates Welcome’s experience in PA’s youth sports programs, especially girls athletics.
“We’re excited to have Rick Welcome leading the PA girls varsity basketball team as the new head coach. As a Vermont high school basketball alum, Rick brings a wealth of experience and a strong understanding of the game to our area, which adds great energy and potential to our program. His passion for basketball, dedication to player development on and off the court, and advocacy for women’s sports make him an outstanding addition to our team,” said Silva.
Welcome’s brother Billy led Hazen to a state title in 2000, finishing his career with 1,352 points, third all-time. He is currently the owner of All in Athletics in Chicago, one of the biggest AAU Player Development facilities in the state of Illinois.
Welcome’s hire at PA is yet another branch to an expanding Hill coaching tree, in a career that is approaching legendary status as he closes in on the age of 50. Hill eclipsed 400 career coaching wins at Hazen last winter and has hung six state championship banners from the rafters in his 25 plus years on the sidelines, with the latest coming in 2021.
All-time Wildcat leading scorer Tim Shedd (1,695) was also on Hill’s 2000 championship team and was recently hired to coach the boys varsity program at Falls Lake Academy in North Carolina. Blake Fletcher has replaced fellow Hazen alum Eli Appleton as the Lyndon Institute varsity boys head coach, Ryan Tatro coaches JV boys at Spaulding and Tom Corbett coaches the JV girls program under Craftsbury Academy’s Jeff Davis at Colchester.
The most impressive branch of Hill’s tree comes from yet another member of that 2000 championship team. Randy Lumsden was the third head of the monster for that 2000 team, scoring 947 career points for the Wildcats. He took over the reins of the Hazen varsity girls program two years ago and the Lady Cats are 40-3 with Lumsden on the sidelines. Lumsden’s Lady Cats capped off a 20-1 season last March by capturing the Division III state title, the program’s first since 1991.
