PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's Women's Basketball Head Coach Cindy Griffin announced the additions of Caleb Samson and Chloe Welch to the coaching staff on Thursday afternoon.
 
Samson comes to Hawk Hill after a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Illinois, joining the staff as Director of Video and Scouting Operations. During his time in Champaign, Samson helped with player development, scouting and game planning among his various roles. The Fighting Illini tallied three All-Big Ten selections and an All-American honorable mention in Samson's two seasons on staff.
 
"I am excited to welcome Caleb to Hawk Hill" stated Coach Griffin. "Caleb brings a wide knowledge in the scouting and analytics department and has been part of many winning programs and knows what a championship-caliber program looks like."
 
Prior to joining Illinois, Samson earned his start in coaching as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Sterling College in Kansas. Samson coached a WBCA All-American in Bailey Bangert as well as three all-conference players in his lone year with the Warriors.
 
A Brooklyn, N.Y. native, Samson graduated with degrees from Wake Tech Community College and Urbana University before earning master's degrees in strategic brand communication and business management at Illinois.
 
Chloe Welch also joins the staff as a graduate manager, making the switch after a decorated playing career in the Atlantic 10 culminated with her final season of eligibility at St. Joe's in 2023-24.
 
"We are extremely excited to be able to keep Chloe in our program", said Griffin. "Her experience and passion for basketball was a huge part of our success last season and we are excited to help usher her in to a new chapter of her career."
 
A 1,000-point scorer, Welch played in 149 games in her career. Spending the first five seasons at Davidson, the Colorado Springs, Colo. native scored 997 of her 1,348 points with the Wildcats before joining the Hawks as a graduate transfer for her final year.
 
In 2023-24, Welch started in all 34 games and was one of four Hawks to register double-digit points per game, helping Saint Joseph's to a Big 5 title and a new program record of 28 wins – leading the Hawks to a quarterfinal appearance in the inaugural WBIT.
 
Earning a bachelor's degree in economics and environmental science from Davidson in 2023, Welch is pursuing her MBA at Saint Joseph's.