A veteran of four years in American professional basketball and five seasons overseas, former Georgia Tech standout Mario West joined the Yellow Jackets’ basketball staff as director of player personnel in May of 2016. He departed in the spring of 2019 to pursue coaching opportunities.
West serves as the basketball staff’s liaison with academic services, campus housing and dining, media and marketing, helps coordinate the team’s community service activities and also spearheads the program’s outreach to former players.
A 6-5 guard, West was an undrafted free agent signee of the Atlanta Hawks after his Tech career and played three seasons for the team, then spent part of the 2010-11 season with the New Jersey Nets. He played a total of 162 NBA games, and also played 53 games over two seasons with the Maine Red Claws in the NBA Developmental League.
From there, West played five years with professional teams in the Dominican Republic, Italy, the Philippines, Mexico, France and Argentina. He was named MVP of the Dominican Republic league finals in 2010, and helped the Boulogne Sur Mere team to the French second division league title in 2014. He returned to action during the summer of 2018 to play in the Big3 3-on-3 league.
The native of Douglas, Ga., came to Tech as a non-scholarship player and played on three NCAA Tournament teams, including the Tech team that played for the national championship in 2004. In four seasons from 2003-07, West played in 103 games, starting 21, and averaged 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds. He achieved career highs in 2005-06 with 5.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game while hitting 48.3 percent of his field goals. He served as team captain as a senior and ranks 20th on Tech’s all-time list for steals. Immediately following his Tech career, he participated in and won the NCAA Slam Dunk championship that is staged at the Final Four site each year.
West earned his bachelor of science degree in business management from Tech in 2007, and during his post-graduate career, he has served as a coach at numerous youth camps in countries where he has played, as well as those conducted in Atlanta by Georgia Tech and the Atlanta Hawks.
West has co-authored a book with Shakyna Bolden, entitled “Defend the Dream, 20 ways to win the game of your dream,” based on West’s journey to the NBA, which was published in 2016.
He and his wife Karissa were married in June of 2018.
We bleed gold and white. If you put on a @GTMBB jersey, we’re brothers for life! #TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/JoS1cM4Lbw
— Mario West (@MarioWest5) July 8, 2016
