My favorite basketball player in the history of Marshall University has played his last game with the Thundering Herd.

 

Jarrod West could have come back and played one more year in Huntington thanks to the NCAA granting winter athletes an additional year of eligibility because of the havoc created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

He will play college basketball next year somewhere. It just won’t be Marshall and I’m OK with that.

 

Granted, when West first announced he was entering the transfer portal I had a slight moment of disappointment for selfish reasons.

I’m a Marshall graduate, my daughter is close to being a Marshall graduate.

 

Marshall basketball games meant I could go visit a city I spent a good portion of my life in, go eat at Fat Patty’s with my daughter, we could then go the game, split a large popcorn, get a drink with Jarrod West’s face on the souvenir cup and I could actually cheer for Jarrod West.

 

I covered Jarrod’s entire high school career. I was there from Day 1 of his freshman season. I was there when he didn’t miss a 3-point attempt in his first state tournament game against Tucker County. I was there for the disappointing state tournament losses his sophomore and junior seasons.

 

I was there his senior year when he put together as good a three-game stretch as I’ve ever seen in that building, leading Notre Dame to the Class A state championship. I was there to present him with the Bill Evans Award as the state’s top player. I was even there when in his last official event as a high school athlete, he hit a game-winning 3 in the North-South Game.

 

I was there for a lot of moments where I was working and couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t cheer no matter how bad I might have wanted to. That changed when I could go as fan and watch him play at Marshall, so I will miss that.

 

I’m not the only person that has been in the Henderson Center the past four years, cheering for No. 13 from Clarksburg. He became a lot of people’s favorite Marshall player, not just mine, and that isn’t lost on Jarrod. It’s one of the reasons why it is important to him that everybody knows leaving Huntington was not an easy decision.

 

When I caught up with Jarrod earlier this week, here’s how he put it:

 

“I want to be very clear, this had nothing to do with Marshall, nothing bad happened, there is no bad blood with Marshall,” West said. “I love Marshall and I don’t want people speculating that something happened because nothing happened.

 

“It was a tough decision. I gave Marshall everything I had the past four years and I feel like they have given me just as much back from the community, the school, the fans, my teammates, my coaches. I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime here and I’m forever grateful for everything that they have done.”

 

Before I start talking about basketball specifically, I think that it is important to recognize that West’s “bulldog mentality” isn’t just about on-the-court success. He earned his undergraduate degree in three and a half years.

 

To me that is as impressive as anything he accomplished on the court at Marshall and he accomplished a lot.

 

Career statistics include 1,204 points, 393 rebounds, 424 assists, 254 steals, and 202 3-pointers made.

 

According to a great piece on West’s legacy written by Chuck McGill for herdzone.com (which can be read in it’s entirety HERE), West is one of only 22 players in the country since the 1992-93 season to reach 1,200 career points, 400 career assists, 250 career steals and 200 3-pointers.

 

There’s some pretty big names on that list like Kerry Kittles, Jameer Nelson, Jevon Carter and Shabazz Napier.

 

West made second-team All-Conference USA as a senior and earned third-team honors as a junior. In both his junior and senior seasons, West was an All-Conference USA Defensive Team selection and an All-Conference USA Academic Team selection.

 

In West’s four years in Huntington, Marshall played 127 basketball games. West played in 126 of them. He missed one late in his senior season with a minor ankle injury.

 

You think that’s impressive? Of those 126 games, he started 124. He didn’t start one game his freshman year and it was Senior Night where OT Elmore got the start. The next year, Rondale Watson started in place of West because of Senior Night.

 

Had COVID not forced several canceled games this season, West would have set the all-time school record for games played to go along with his all-time school record for steals (254) – a mark he broke two games into his senior season, surpassing Skip Henderson’s total of 208.

 

Memorable moments? There are plenty of those including one that has to go at the top of the list.

 

In his freshman season (2017-18) West was a key part of the Thundering Herd team that won the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game. Marshall as a No. 13 seed defeated No. 4 Wichita State, 81-75 in San Diego.

 

West had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals in that game.

 

For as long as I live I will remember exactly where I was watching the end of that game.

 

It was between sessions at the boys high school state tournament, me, Fairmont Senior head coach David Retton, Ravenswood coach Mick Price, Jalen Bridges, a couple of other players for the Polar Bears and the grumpy parking lot security guy (if you have been backstage at the state tournament, you know who I’m talking about) huddled around a TV by the media and player entrance area.

 

When West hit a deep 3-pointer at the 3:10 mark that put Marshall up 74-70, we were as loud as the actual in-person crowd in San Diego. Grumpy parking lot security guy even smiled.

 

“That entire experience from the time we won the conference championship on Saturday to Selection Sunday to leaving to go to San Diego on Tuesday, to playing in that game, it was literally such a surreal experience,” West said. “I will never forget that feeling and I will cherish those memories forever. Honestly, I get bored sometimes and I will go back and watch some of that game.

 

“As far as moments go, that’s tough to top but this year, against Wright State when we beat them there, we came back and I broke the steals record that game.

 

“Beating Western Kentucky at home my sophomore year, Jannson (Williams) hit a game-winner. That was crazy. Beating La. Tech at home my junior year in OT, that was a great game and I had a really good game. At Old Dominion, my sophomore year when I hit the game-winner, that was crazy too. There are just so many memorable moments.”

 

A funny thing happened in regard to discussions about West as a player from his Notre Dame days through his Marshall career.

 

In high school, the talk always centered around his ability to score. Few, although I include myself in this category, noticed just how good he was on defense.

 

West is so good on defense, that the discussion flipped in college. That was all everybody wanted to talk about. Granted, being a defensive stopper is a nice calling card to have, but his ability to run an offense, facilitate an offense and score took a back seat.

 

“I think the narrative has changed so much from that point in time,” West said. “My junior year, I’m averaging 25, 26 points because I have to carry the offense. People knew I was good on defense but it wasn’t talked about a lot. Then I get to college and that’s all I’m talked about for.

 

“Even today, people the first thing they say is, ‘Jarrod West is an elite on-ball defender’ or ‘he’s a really good defender.’ That’s the first thing they say, it’s never anything about offense.

 

“A lot of that has to do with the role I have had to play on certain teams. Being able to run a team as a point guard, you have to different things for different teams, that’s just part of the process.”

 

As long as I’ve know Jarrod West he has strived to be an all-around point guard and when an aspect of his game gets swept under the rug a bit, it doesn’t make him mad it just makes him try that much harder to prove that they aren’t looking at the full picture and it’s something he knows he will have to prove all over again once this transfer portal process plays out.

 

“I’ve always been someone that can score, run the offense, facilitate, make plays and at the end of the day play defense, guard the other team’s best player, get steals on the ball and off the ball,” West said. Having that all-around game is something that has carried me to this point and it’s something I want to display on a higher level.”

 

On top of the work ethic, the knowledge of the game, the skill on both ends of the court, West also plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, a chip the size of West Virginia.

 

As I’m writing this there are probably somewhere between 50 and 75 basketball games in this state scheduled to be played in the next 24 hours. I guarantee you, Jarrod, his father, his brother and his mother know at least two people playing in everyone of those games and are friends with probably 20 other people in the stands at each of those games.

 

You want to talk ambassadors for the game of basketball in this state, at any level? The West family has to be at the top of the list.

 

 “There is a chip on my shoulder about that,” West said. “I came out of high school, people said, I don’t know if he can play at Marshall.’ I start every game but two, score 1,200 points and I’m the all-time steal leader. It’s about proving that I can play at that level no matter where I end up.

 

“It’s not just about me, it’s about every person that comes from West Virginia. Kaden Metheny, they said he’s too small look at what he’s doing at Bowling Green as a freshman.

 

“Obinna (Anochili-Killen), David (Early), Jalen Bridges, there is always a doubt. Chase (Harler), Tavian Dunn-Martin he’s too small too. Look at what Elijah (Cuffee) has done at Liberty. (Brandon) Knapper, Luke (Frampton), there is always a doubt and we have to validate it more than other people. Look what Luke Dyer did at West Liberty. Look at what Darhius Nunn has done. 

 

“As for me being a small guy, people have been doubting me my whole life. If I listened to those people, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t have had the success I had at Marshall. I wouldn’t have this opportunity to go to a higher level if I had believed all those people.

“It’s about keeping that chip on your shoulder, believing in myself, betting on myself and using all that naysaying as fuel to the fire to help me, but to also to help the guys that come after me that way they can have that opportunity to lessen that doubt. My brother (Jaiydn) right now is a perfect example. He’s small like me, small like Kaden, and there is some doubt about him.  He is going to have to validate it, it’s part of the process.”

 

I know some of you read this hoping to find out where Jarrod West will be transferring to. Where will he play this one final season of college basketball?

 

I don’t know. I didn’t even ask him.

 

I have my hunches and I know some heavy hitters have reached out to him. I will find out when everybody else does and we all may know as early as the end of next week.

 

I’ve given this answer to a couple of people and I mean it – Jarrod West should go play wherever Jarrod West wants to go play.

 

Myself, I don’t care if it’s WVU, Concord, Gonzaga, North Carolina, Louisville, a change of heart and he’s back in Huntington or if he just wants to be the sure-fired No. 1 pick for the first team that signs up for the first adult league at The Bridge.

 

Wherever he goes, they are getting an all-around point guard with a “bulldog mentality” who wants to win, who works as hard in the classroom as he does on the court, who loves the game, who has strong faith and relishes being a leader.

 

It may not be high on the list of priorities for all the schools that are currently talking to Jarrod but they would also be getting an expanded fan base, myself included.

 

There’s not one team in the country that doesn’t get better with the addition of Jarrod West. Don’t believe me? Just sit back and watch him prove all the naysayers wrong once again.

 

Editor's Note: Top three photos and bottom two photos of West courtesy of www.herdzone.com. Fourth photo is of Jarrod West and a "fan" during Selection Sunday in the Cam Henderson Center in 2018.