Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: West and his 'Bulldog Mentality' make mark on defense
3/9/2021 9:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Big Green Scholarship Foundation, Word on the Herd, Buck Harless Student Athlete Program
Marshall plays in C-USA Tournament on Wednesday in Frisco, Texas
Note: This story originally appeared in the December 2020 issue of Thundering Herd Illustrated, the official magazine of Marshall University Athletics. Jarrod West, a senior on the Marshall men's basketball team, was named to the Conference USA all-conference second team and the league's first team all-defensive team this week. He now holds the school's all-time steals record.
By Chuck McGill
In a mid-December virtual interview with local media, Marshall men's basketball player Jarrod West was asked about his "bulldog mentality" on the defensive end of the floor.
West, a 5-foot-10 senior from Clarksburg, West Virginia, smiled and endorsed the use of the phrase. The Thundering Herd's all-time leader in steals wouldn't mind if that perception stuck with him for the duration of his collegiate career … and beyond. After all, that's how West's father – also named Jarrod – raised him since he was a young pup.
"I told him he had to be a bulldog," said big Jarrod. "If he could play defense for 40 minutes, he'd play defense for 40 minutes. That's how he's wired."
West broke Marshall's career steals record of 208 – held by Herd great Skip Henderson – on Dec. 3 at Wright State. Although the 2020-21 season schedule is unpredictable, West has a shot at the Conference USA mark, too. That total, 264, is held by Charlotte's Eddie Basden. West entered this season with 202 career steals, and has never had fewer than 57 in any season in college, including a program record 80 steals in 2018-19.
That season, senior guards Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks were rewriting the record books with a flurry of points, while the quiet, humble leader West made his impact on the other end of the floor.
"You have to be able to defend your position, but you have to be able to make a difference in defending your position," the younger Jarrod said. "It's not always good enough to keep your guy in front and make them take tough shots. (My dad) said that you got to be different. That mentality has been engraved in me since day one. I've always had a chip on my shoulder. I've always had something to prove.
"That mentality is something I've always lived by. Nothing easy. Everything you get you've got to earn. A lot of was my family and my parents and how they raised me. They didn't let me slide by. They held me accountable. They made me earn everything I've got. That mentality has been with me pretty much my whole life, and that starts with my parents, especially my dad."
West was a prolific scorer and defender in high school, winning the Evans Award as a senior – the state's top individual basketball honor. He was the first Class A player to win that award since 1984, and only the third different player from Harrison County to achieve it.
Now, his reputation is on the defensive end, and West covets the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year award. He always draws the opponent's top offensive weapon, an assignment that often allowed players like Elmore and Burks, among others, the luxury of staying fresh in order to put up big numbers on the other end of the floor.
But West can score, too. He averaged 20.5 points per game en route to the Evans Award and scored 35 points in the Class A state semifinals as a senior, and then 29 points in the state championship win in his final prep game. Even so, given his stature, West knew defense was his ticket to Division I basketball.
"Being a 5-10 point guard, if you can't defend your position and dominate your position defensively, you're probably not going to play Division I basketball," said West's father. "I told him from day one the importance of competing defensively, angles, being aggressive, cutting people off, using your drag hand to force steals or turnovers. A lot of that is DNA. Some people can be taught to be defensive players, but some people have that pride. He has it in his blood. He takes it personal."
Little Jarrod, as his dad calls him, learned most of that from his father, who doubled as his high school coach. Big Jarrod is a native of Natchez, Mississippi, who made his way to the Mountain State in the mid-90s as a point guard at WVU. Big Jarrod is well known for his NCAA Tournament heroics, hitting a 3-pointer to lift the Mountaineers against the Bob Huggins-coached Cincinnati Bearcats in 1998. Without that moment, there might not have ever been a Little Jarrod-Marshall union.
After Big Jarrod wrapped up his collegiate career, he bounced around in leagues like the USBL, CBA and IBA, hoping to get noticed by someone in a more prominent league. When he and his wife had Little Jarrod, though, Big Jarrod shelved his professional basketball aspirations.
"My mom told me that I was famous in two places and one of them was West Virginia, and I was probably more famous in West Virginia than Mississippi," Big Jarrod said.
So he returned to the Clarksburg area and later began his coaching career, but it was on the basketball courts in that area where Little Jarrod began watching and learning.
"I'm a good parent," the older Jarrod said, "but anytime I was out playing ball, he was with me."
Eventually, it was Little Jarrod who took to those same courts to hone his skills.
"I didn't get to see my dad play, but I've watched some of his games – his old games – I've seen clips," the younger Jarrod said. "If you watch him play, especially his senior year, you see some similarities on the defensive end. He was picking up full court, you could tell he had that chip on his shoulder, he took it as a challenge. He passed that down to me and my brother at an early age, especially knowing that we probably weren't going to be the biggest guys."
Now Marshall has one of the best defenders in its program's history, and he excels in the classroom, as an ambassador for the athletic department and as a leader on and off the floor.
"Obviously, he has a big heart," Marshall head coach Dan D'Antoni said. "It starts there. He's rangy. You don't realize it. He's one of the longest on our team, if not the longest. That surprises the offensive player. Also, it's the determination. His dad coached him in high school. His dad was a tough player when he played. Tough guy who instilled it in his kid. He's a competitor. That combination, you wind it up into a strong body, you have a strong body that has the length. He has all the ingredients to be a great defender."
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a nine-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).
