The Buffalo community raised him. On NCAA stage, Dom Welch wears hometown on his chest.

When Alabama's Dominick Welch stepped out onto the court in Barcelona in August, the bleachers were empty.

The game against Barcelona's Spain Select would not be available for streaming or broadcast on TV back home. Live updates for family and friends in Welch's hometown near Buffalo, New York, where three months earlier a racist massacre at a Tops supermarket claimed the lives of 10 people, would come only through an app reporting the play-by-play.

They would see the stats — Welch scored 11 points in the game, and went 3-for-3 from 3-point range — but not until the school later released game photos would they see the number on his new crimson jersey.

A standout basketball star at Cheektowaga Central High School and St. Bonaventure University, Welch had always worn No. 1.

Today he wore No. 10.

Welch's decision made headlines that summer, but how he arrived at it is an even deeper story stretching back 15 years, when Welch first started playing sports in neighborhood recreation leagues near Buffalo.

It's the story of the community that got behind him, watching him grow and succeed in record-breaking fashion, the family who've supported him, the kids back home who still look up to him.

Welch, 24, is soft-spoken. He hasn't publicly mentioned the massacre, outside of a few social media posts. But when the unthinkable happened in his hometown, he could not stay silent.

"I felt it was a big thing for me to do — the number change to honor those 10 lives that were taken in that situation," Welch said at the time. "I'm stuttering saying it, but it really means a lot to me. It was a sad thing that happened."

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Dominick Welch's basketball career was homegrown in Buffalo

Welch's family roots grew from the Fruit Belt district in Buffalo, less than a mile from the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue. His mother and father, Brandon and Angelo Welch, were raised in the area.

Their son first became a sports star in the city as the quarterback of little league football teams on the West Side, North Buffalo, and in Cheektowaga where he and older brother Darrell Delaney Jr., 29, spent most of their childhood.

They grew up with a close-knit extended family; upstairs from their grandmother — Lillian ("G", "Gram," "Gangster Gram") Tyson lived there until she died in April 2020 — near the basketball court where Angelo would kick Darrell and his friends off the court so his younger brother could get some shots up, in a home where sibling tussles left holes in the walls.

"He didn't take losing well," Delaney Jr. said.

That drive would continue through Dom Welch's rise in athletics.

He honed his skills playing in the North Cheektowaga Amateur Athletic Association and joined the AAU circuit with Albany City Rocks' Jimmy Hart, who Brandon thanked for Welch's development.

His alma mater, Cheektowaga Central, is a stone's throw away from the city line. It's where Welch was pulled up to varsity in eighth grade, where he later helped the Cheektowaga Warriors win the program's first Section VI title, and broke a 54-year drought between league titles. A thunderous dunk, erupting the standing-room only Buffalo State College crowd, officially made Welch a household name.

"That dunk was the talk of the offseason. It woke up WNY. Everybody knew who Dom was by the next season," said DeMario Rhodes, former Cheektowaga assistant who is currently the head coach.

Regional records, accolades: How Welch's excellence united community

Welch began his sophomore year at Canisius High School in Buffalo, but returned to Cheektowaga in time to begin his sophomore basketball season.

He kept getting better, and a growing base of fans followed his rise. They celebrated when he was named The Buffalo News' Allen Wilson Boys Basketball Player of the Year and Centercourt MVP. They watched him reach 668 points in a season — a Cheektowaga program record — and other program marks including 1,200 career rebounds and 287 blocks.

They were there at his very last high school game, back where his stardom started at Buffalo State, when Welch surpassed Richie Campbell's coveted WNY record 2,355 career points. He ended the game with 2,376.

"It was a special moment because the way he did it on that stage. You couldn't ask for a better ending," Rhodes said.

But it didn't end there. Fans — more and more of them — continued to follow Welch's career: first when he played prep at Geneva, Ohio's Spire Institute in 2016-17 and later at St. Bonaventure University just outside Olean, New York, where Welch wore No. 1 and was named a team captain.

He was one of the A-10's most prolific 3-point shooters, leading the Bonnies to an A-10 title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2021. In March, he made clutch baskets when they advanced to the National Invitation Tournament, registering a career-high 25 points on a Bonnies' postseason record seven 3s against Xavier in the semifinals.

Welch became a fan favorite.

"Truth be told," said Pat Cullinan, Welch's varsity basketball coach at Cheektowaga, "there's never going to be another Dom Welch coming through here."

'The kids still look up to him'

The accolades are deserved, but Welch has never been the cocky star athlete, and he's given as much as he's gotten from his hometown. He was one of the friendliest kids on campus in high school, cracking jokes with everyone, taking photos and signing autographs when they asked.

"On the court, he's a hard worker with a true passion and love for the game of basketball. Off the court, he's a fun-loving guy who enjoys spending time with his friends and family," said AJ Mitchell, former head manager for the Bonnies' men's basketball team.

His family, friends, coaches and neighbors have been there for him from the beginning, and he has sought opportunities to return the favor.

"He still has a presence on campus," Rhodes said. "He stops by the high school often and is always lending a helping hand. The kids still look up to him."

Zak Ciezki, whose epic game-winning shot in the 2013 Section VI Class A2 final lifted Cheektowaga to its first-ever championship, played with Welch for three seasons.

"Dom always took the game seriously but also always had a fun time playing the game," said Ciezki, who'd play basketball and football at Buffalo State. He said it was "awesome" to watch Welch grow as a player.

"I couldn't have asked for a better teammate to play alongside."

Welch volunteers with Cheektowaga's basketball camps and unified basketball program, where children with intellectual disabilities team up. He even encouraged the Bonnies to recognize the unified basketball team's advancement to the Special Olympics.

"He wanted to be a part of it from the beginning," Cullinan said. "He couldn't wait to be out there with his fellow athletes."

'When it touches home, it's a little bit different.'

Jefferson Avenue, the mecca of Buffalo's Black culture, was a magnet pulling people closer in the days following the racially-motivated mass murder in May 2022. The only supermarket for miles was shut down for two months, and the community came together offering free food and clothes. Flowers, photos and candles surrounded the Tops parking lot.

Together, they mourned.

Welch was far from home when it happened. After graduating from St. Bonaventure with an undergraduate degree in video production, he'd set his sights on a master's degree at the University of Alabama and was training with his new team: the Crimson Tide.

Alabama had a few Western New York connections — head coach Nate Oats was previously the University at Buffalo's head coach, and assistant coach Bryan Hodgson grew up in Jamestown, less than an hour from St. Bonaventure, and Rochester's Jaden Bradley had recently committed — but in the wake of the massacre, home felt far away from the Southeastern Conference, and Welch wanted to do something to bring it a bit closer.

Hodgson guided Blue Collar U to The Basketball Tournament's $1 million grand prize in July while donning the Tops victims' names on their jerseys. He and Welch had talked privately about ways to memorialize them, and Welch did the only thing he could think to do.

After years in the spotlight, he quietly changed his number from 1 to 10.

The team made the announcement in June on social media. Comments poured in, over 600 people "liked" it on Facebook, and on Twitter, 301 people retweeted it. The most important reactions came from the people back home.

Brandon Welch said she had no idea her son had been planning it.

"He was very touched by it. Dom is a very smart young man. I'm surprised at the decisions he makes," she said. "Inside he's a caring person. He felt it was a good way to give back, to represent the town."

"I know he's a whole-hearted little dude," Delaney Jr. said. "It meant something to him."

Oats said he was "floored" by Welch's decision.

"The fact that he wanted to do it speaks volumes to his character and what kind of kid he is," he said.

Welch first appeared in his Alabama No. 10 jersey in Europe, and while he was sidelined for part of the season due to an injury, hometown supporters witnessed his advocacy, sporting his Crimson Tide jersey on national television as Alabama became the nation's No. 1-ranked team in February.

The 1,000-mile difference between Cheektowaga and Tuscaloosa makes it difficult for Cheektowaga to schedule Welch's jersey retirement ceremony. But they're still rooting for him, more than ever.

"Dom is someone who is aware of his roots. I thought it was a good for him to do, to make sure people don't forget what happened," Rhodes said. "When it touches home, it's a little bit different."

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Why Alabama's Dom Welch chose 10: Basketball star's tribute to Buffalo