New Alcorn State head men’s basketball coach Sam West didn’t have to hit the ground running after being hired two weeks ago.

He was already in a full sprint.

West already had his eyes on recruits for next season, had started working on summer camps and getting the details tied down for the summer before he officially took over as head coach of the Braves following the retirement of Davey Whitney.

He still answers the phone at his old office, but he’s pumped about his new assignment.

&uot;I’m enjoying it,&uot; said West, a Natchez native and former head coach at North Natchez High School. &uot;The recruiting for next year &045; we’ll already have them on campus. We’re ahead of the game. I think they’re going to bring a lot of energy.&uot;

Their energy may just equal that of the head coach, but that may be a stretch. It’s the first head coaching job West has taken in seven years since he was head coach at Northwest Rankin.

Yet the former Rams head coach is raring to go in taking over the program after Whitney, who notched over 500 wins as coach of the Braves.

&uot;When I first took the job, it was mine and Coach Whitney’s understanding he would stay three or four years,&uot; West said. &uot;I kind of thought after we won that first championship he would have tried to leave, but he loves coaching and loves his trade. I understand that and wanted him to go out the way he wanted to go out.

&uot;Looking at it from God’s standpoint, I really have some large shoes to fill. I won’t win 500 games here, but his commitment to the game of basketball is second to none.&uot;

What’s happened in his two weeks on the job is he landed three recruits, two of which will man the post area. West signed a pair of players from Terry High School &045; guard Patrick Horton and post James Kendrick &045; along with Jefferson County post Juan Wyatt.

Wyatt, our All-Metro Player of the Year, can move well for a big man. But the two signings &045; along with a couple of red-shirt freshmen &045; should beef up an area the Braves struggled in last season, especially after leading scorer Lee Cook was kicked off the team.

Also expected to sign is point guard Trey Jackson, a product of Northeast Mississippi Community College and Jackson Murrah.

&uot;Juan was at the top of the priority list,&uot; West said. &uot;He’s a local kid with a lot of talent. He can shore up the power forward position for us and really help us being 6-8 and 240 pounds. If they all buy into the system, we should have a future that could be second to none.&uot;

Some top recruits would help West do just what he did as a player and coach in Natchez &045; be successful and build a winner.

&uot;The best years I’ve ever spent in my life were at Sadie V. Thompson and North Natchez,&uot; West said. &uot;The teachers, coaches, janitors, bus drivers, administrators and students &045; I can just never forget those days. That’s what I’m searching for. I want to find that again.&uot;

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. You can reach him at (601) 445-3632 or by e-mail at

adam.daigle@natchezdemocrat.com.