Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Workmanlike West wants more wins for Herd hoops
10/31/2018 3:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Word on the Herd
Sophomore guard averaged 7.8 points per game last season
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – In the wake of March's Conference USA basketball championship, Marshall fans of all ages celebrated a rare ticket to the Big Dance. The jubilation that followed the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament and the frenzy of Selection Sunday had not been witnessed around here in three decades.
For Jarrod West, he didn't have to wait until the end of his second semester on a college campus to reach March Madness. Forget one-and-done, West was one-and-in.
"It was a blessing and a dream come true for me," West said. "Everything about that whole situation was a high that you never really thought you would come down from. When I came here, that was the goal. A lot of people are lucky to go to one NCAA tournament."
West, now a true sophomore from Clarksburg, is back after averaging 7.8 points per game last season. He led Marshall, which finished 25-11, won a C-USA title and advanced in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, in 3-point shooting percentage at 41.2. He ranked seventh in the league in 3-point shooting, one of two freshmen in the top 10. He ranked eighth in the league in steals with 57, the only freshman in the top 10 in that category.
But, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound guard could care little about those individual numbers. He has one intention in mind. The same objective he had when he finished his high school career as a state champion, and the same one he had in his first collegiate season, which ended in a conference championship.
"Winning has always been the goal," West said. "My whole life – middle school, high school, AAU – I just wanted to win. Last year, being able to win the conference title and go to San Diego and win in the first round, that was a goal. We wanted to win the national title – that's the ultimate goal."
West said the Thundering Herd's achievements were not hard to believe. He called it "surreal," certainly, but not a shock because of how much he and his teammates invested in the 2017-18 season and the pursuit of championships and more. He is not subduing expectations for the 2018-19 season, either, which is inching closer. Marshall hosts West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday night in an exhibition game at the Henderson Center before opening the regular season next Wednesday at Eastern Kentucky.
He trained this offseason with the idea of wanting more in mind. He practiced his shot more. He pushed himself to get into better shape. He challenged others. The yearning the Marshall fan base had after decades of an NCAA tournament drought is alive and well inside West, even though he has experienced nothing but hoisting trophies and busting brackets.
"I knew that we were going to have a lot of pieces and a lot of talent this year," West said. "I wanted to continue to develop in my role as a defensive player. I wanted to get better at finishing at the rim against bigger guys. Being able to be a secondary play-maker when Jon and C.J. don't have the ball, to be able to handle the and run the offense like them."
West plays alongside one of the most potent offensive duos in college basketball in senior guards Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks. He knows he needs to expend his energy on the other end of the court to make Marshall as good as it can be.
"I take a lot of pride in defense and I always have," West said. "My dad put that in my head early. At my height, to get on the floor, he said that I have to be able to guard multiple positions and be in the best shape possible. Coach Dan puts me on the opposing team's best perimeter player and I take that personally."
D'Antoni adores West's drive to improve, and to not let last season's success be the program's peak. The fifth-year head coach said "You can't take going to the NCAA tournament for granted," and he knows West hasn't. If the Herd can repeat as C-USA champs, West will be a big reason why.
"He's the grit of the team," D'Antoni said. "He's the guy you want to go to war with because he's going to fight the whole time. He does it different than Jon. Jon is a grit guy, but he does it with more flare and finesse. Jarrod just dogs you to where you just get tired. He will not let you beat him with a normal play. You have to make a great play, and he makes you do it over and over and over again."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a six-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
