Dec. 2, 2005
By Simit Shah – While everything has changed around him, Mario West is still the same.
The redshirt junior has been on an incredible journey from walk-on to starter, but that doesn’t mean he has changed his intense style of play one bit, as he often ends up on the floor numerous times every game and practice session.
“He scares the heck out of me,” said coach Paul Hewitt. “He absolutely scares the living daylights out of me, but he plays hard every possession.”
The Jackets and Hewitt have certainly gotten more than they bargained for when they offered West a role on the team as a non-scholarship player in the fall of 2002.
West starred at Douglas County High School, fittingly located about 25 miles due west of Tech’s campus. He averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game as a senior and was the county’s player of the year. A number of colleges showed interest and offered scholarships, but West was willing to take a chance to prove himself on a larger stage.
“Georgia Tech was a dream school,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
A versatile 6-foot-4 guard, West was redshirted in his first season, but he says that it provided an opportunity to adjust to college both on and off the court.
“It paid a lot of dividends academically and in the amount of knowledge I learned basketball-wise,” he explained. “I needed that growth. I think I was physically ready as a freshman, but I wasn’t mentally ready for a long season.”
While he wasn’t playing in games, West made his presence felt in practice with his tenacious defense. It was during one intense session that Hewitt rewarded him for his relentless style.
“One day in practice, I was going hard,” West recalled. “I was everywhere, diving on the floor and hustling. Coach stopped practice and said, `That’s it, I’m giving you a scholarship. You’ve earned it.’
“That was a pretty good feeling.”
As a redshirt freshman in 2003-04, West played in 19 games as part of the team that reached the national championship game. He saw action mostly as a spot defender that year, and heading into last season, expectations were pretty much the same.
However, injuries compelled Hewitt to insert West into the rotation, and he averaged 11 minutes per ACC regular season game and 15 minutes in the ACC Tournament. West often drew the opponents’ top player, and he responded with impressive efforts against the likes of Wake Forest’s Chris Paul.
With the departure of last season’s entire starting lineup, West finds himself in a much larger role this year. Not only is he starting, he’s been asked to assume some of the scoring load and ball-handling responsibilities.
“I had a lot of time to watch the people before me having success scoring,” he noted. “We have a lot of scorers on this team, so some nights I might not be able to put up a lot of shots, but I’m willing to do whatever I need to.”
“Mario takes good shots and takes care of the basketball,” added Hewitt. “I think he’s a guy that understands the value of moving the ball and finding guys that are open.”
In his first two games of this season, he scored 11 points in each game, surpassing his career high of 10 set against Florida State last year. While he’s asserting him self more on the offense end, West knows that defense is still his bread and butter.
“That’s how I got my minutes, so I take it upon myself to set the tone time I step on the floor,” said West, who leads the team in steals. “In order for us to be successful, we all have to play defense well.”
“He’s extremely important,” Hewitt emphasized. “Right now, he might be our most important guy on the court in practice and games. He missed three practices [earlier this season] with his leg injury, and it was amazing the difference there was in practice. When he came back, it was noticeable how much the energy level went up.”
His teammates are quick to acknowledge his importance to the team, and there is admiration of his ascent from a walk-on to the starting lineup.
“Think about how many guys do that,” said point guard Zam Fredrick. “It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment, especially at a school like this in the ACC.”
“He accepts challenges,” Hewitt said. “I tell people that if you’re going to be successful at Georgia Tech, you have to accept challenges. That’s why I call him a `Georgia Tech kid.’ He doesn’t shy away from the academic challenge or the challenge of playing in the ACC. He came here as a walk-on and has shown everybody what he can do.”
“This is a dream come true,” West said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
