[LeeCoUKFan]

West recovering from injury, preparing for season

Justin Rowland
Special to CatsIllustrated.com

Lima (Ohio) Central Catholic head coach Jerry Cooper is probably more familiar with what Darius West can do on the football field than anyone else and he had no shortage of praise for his big-time safety this week.

West is Kentucky's second-highest rated prospect from the Buckeye State after Mikel Horton and following Marcus McWilson last year he's the second four-star safety from Ohio to commit to the Wildcats.

Cooper wasn't surprised at all when West verbally pledged to UK.

"I can't speak for Darius but in the (recruiting) process from the day he stepped on Kentucky's campus and saw the facilities and met with the coaches he had Kentucky at the top of his list," Cooper said. "To put it in perspective we had (coaches) from Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Penn State there. Normally when those four schools recruit Ohio kids up against Kentucky it's kind of a no-brainer that Kentucky is down the (list). For this particular kid it was the opposite."

West's commitment took a little while longer than many believed it would. He had initially set a decision date but postponed that, causing some in UK circles to wonder whether the Wildcats' position was fading. In reality there was never any reason for concern, according to Cooper.

"To be honest I don't think it had anything to do with (whether) Ohio State (would offer). It had nothing to do with Notre Dame, who had offered," he said. "He was getting ready for the state track meet and he did not want (his announcement) to detract from the opportunity his team had to win a state championship."

The track team finished second in the state and West himself was fourth in the 100-meters.

West went down with a leg injury not long after committing to the Wildcats and for a while there was real cause for concern.

"It was a clean break of the fibea," Cooper explained. "He's going to be out 10-12 weeks and will be back by the second or third week of the season. It was kind of a freak thing, sort of like the kid from Louisville that got hurt in the basketball game. He was jumping to catch the ball and he came down untouched but awkward on his heel. All his weight came down on that side and the fibea just cracked. It was a pretty clean break and they got it back together without surgery or rods in it.

"We're hoping he'll be playing by (the second or third week). Hopefully he'll have about six weeks in a cast so that would get him out just about the time we start our two-a-days. He'll miss those. We won't do anything with him then."

If West returns to action this year as it appears he will then it will mark his third year starting in the secondary for Lima Central Catholic.

Cooper and the rest of his staff have watched as West has developed into one of the most prized defensive backs in the nation.

"He has a phenomenal amount of strength, explosiveness and length. It's hard to find all of those things. When you have strength, speed, explosiveness and real good length to go with it, those four things are an awfully big component as a defensive back. He's really long for a kid that's 6-foot and weighs 200 pounds. He's really strong, explosive and is fast as can be.

"I think there were a lot of people early who thought he was a corner. As they saw him and he got more and more into it they saw he had the size and physicality to play safety. I think he could play either one. Early in his career he could back up both of those spots (safety and corner) and give you real depth and either spot."

There's one main area that West can stand to focus on improving if he wants to be as versatile as his coach believes he can be.

"One of the things some of the scouting services will say that could make him a little better as a cover corner would be getting a little more flexible in his hips," he said. "When he's at corner he's real explosive and has a stronger upper body. But he can get more flexible."

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1520978