Jalan West

High school career

West attended Bossier High school in Bossier City, Louisiana. As a Junior in 2009-10, he averaged 15 points, 4.5 assist, 2 rebounds per game. Coming out of high school West was rated the No. 2 prospect in the state of Louisiana by most recruiting services. As a Senior in 2010-11, West led Bossier to a LHSAA State Championship in 2011 with a (33–2) season. He also played AAU basketball for the Louisiana-Select Team alongside future NBA players Langston Galloway and Markel Brown. West was a three-time All district selection and back-to-back state finalist in 2009 and 2010. West averaged 16 points, 5 assist , 4.7 rebounds, and 3 steals per game. After his senior year, he chose to play college basketball for Northwestern State University.

College career

As a freshman, West helped lead Northwestern State to an NCAA Tournament appearance while being name Southland Freshman of the Year after the Demons won the Southland Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed. NSU finished the season fourth in the conference. West was also named All-Southland Honorable Mention and All-Southland Defensive Team. West appeared in 37 games for the Demons, where he averaged 10.2 points, 5.1 assists, and 2.1 steals per-game during the season.

West was the only player in the nation to average at least 19 points, 6 assists, 2.5 steals and 4 rebounds per game. He was the first player since Holftra's Speedy Claxton to average this. West had a couple of big games during the season which came against some of the nation's top ranked teams. One of them was against No. 12-ranked Baylor where West had 26 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assist and made a three-point field goal to force overtime. Another came against No. 15-ranked Memphis. West recorded 15 points, 9 assists, and 5 steals in that game. West was named the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He appeared in 31 games and averaged 19.2 points, 6.1 assist, and 2.5 steals per game.

In his junior season, West led the nation in assist (7.7 per game). West recorded a career-best 54 points against the University of New Orleans. West's buzzer beater against UNO was featured on ESPN's Sportscenter Top Plays of the Week which was voted No. 2 on Sportscenter's list for February 1. During the season West averaged 20.0 points per game.

During the first game of his senior season against Ole Miss, West tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), causing him to miss the entire season. He had surgery to repair his ACL in December 2015. Without West, the Demons finished 8–20 on the season and missed the Southland Conference tournament in the process.

After the 2015–16 season, West was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In August 2016, he sustained a second serious knee injury, which caused him to miss the entire season. Northwestern State applied for a seventh-year waiver for West and was approved, a rare feat that was only accomplished three other times in the NCAA before that point.

Accomplishments and awards

Personal life

West is the son of Janice West and George Hairston. West has three half-brothers, an older brother, Demetrius, Jarrien, and a younger brother, Jordan who all share the same father. He also has three sisters, Aniesha, Shaquita, and Keandra West.

On May 6, 2016, West graduated from Northwestern State with a General Studies Degree.