June 5, 2006
Duquesne University head women's basketball coach Dan Durkin announced today that 12-year NBA veteran Doug West has been named assistant coach. West, an Altoona, Pa. native and Villanova graduate, will assume his duties at Duquesne on June 6. West is the second former professional player to join the women's basketball staff as fellow Altoona native and high school teammate Mike Iuzzolino joined Durkin's staff prior to the 2005-06 season.
West comes to Duquesne from Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Wheeling, W.Va. where he served as the athletics director and strength and conditioning coordinator the past two years. He will concentrate on game scouting and preparation and will help coach DU's post players in his new position.
"Doug is extremely eager to hop on board and continue his basketball career at Duquesne University," said Durkin. "I had the opportunity to get to know Doug over the past two years while he worked at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy. He had a great rapport with his team and he loves to teach the fundamentals. Doug has a great work ethic which is needed to be a successful college coach and he will just add to the chemistry we already have with assistant coaches Tanya Garner, Mike and Nikolina Pender."
"I think we've struck it rich again with another Altoona product," continued Durkin, who has recruited three players from the Altoona area in recent years including DU's No. 2 all-time leading scorer Candace Futrell (2001-04) and current sophomore guard Kristi Little.
"This is an exciting opportunity." said West. "I'm looking forward to working with the players and coaches in establishing a hard-working, winning program - one that will bring top local athletes to Duquesne so they can showcase their talent at home."
West, the 38th overall pick (second round) in the 1989 NBA draft, played for nine seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves where he averaged 10.2 points and 3.16 rebounds per game. He averaged a career-best 19.3 ppg in 1993, which was third-highest scoring average in franchise history at the time. West participated in the 1992 Gatorade Slam Dunk Championship and that same year broke the club records for both field goal (51.8%) and free throw (80.5%) percentage. In 1994, he moved into second place on the Timberwolves' all-time scoring list while eclipsing the 4,000 career-point mark. He also became the club's all-time leader in games started (214) and minutes played (9,028). West, who briefly took over as the Timberwolves' all-time scoring leader during the 1995 season, still ranks third on the Wolves' career lists for points (6,216), field goals made (2,530), field goals attempted (5,225), steals (1,723), games played (609) and minutes played (15,603). He is second with 371 career starts and is fourth in free throws made (1,119) and free throws attempted (1,398).
West was traded to the then-Vancouver (Memphis) Grizzlies in 1998 where he played until his retirement in 2001. In his four seasons with the Grizzlies, West shot 81.9 percent from the line (59-72) and a 40.7 percent from the field (101-248).
West had a stellar four-year collegiate career playing for the legendary Rollie Massimino at Villanova (1986-89), where he helped the Wildcats to an 80-59 record and NCAA Tournament appearances in 1986 & 1988. He was named to the All-Regional team after leading sixth-seed Villanova to upsets over third-seeded Illinois and second-seeded Kentucky on the way to reaching the 1988 Southeast Regional finals as a junior.
A four-year starter, West is one of just six players in Villanova's rich basketball history to top the 2,000 career-point mark, with his 2,037 points ranking fourth on Nova's all-time list. His 138 career games played rank tied for first in school history. While at Villanova, West competed in the 1987 Junior Men's World Championship and was invited to the 1988 Olympic Trials. He completed his bachelor's degree in communications from Villanova in 1989.
West began coaching at Canon-McMillan High School in Canonsburg, Pa. where he served as the boys' varsity and junior varsity assistant coach from 2001 to 2003. In 2002 he founded Win by 2, LLC, a basketball based enterprise for youths in Wheeling, W.Va. which provides instruction, apparel and equipment.
A member of both the Philadelphia Big Five and Blair County Sports Halls of Fame, West is also a member of the Retired National Basketball Players Association.
The 39-year old West and his wife Wuela have two children, a 9-year old son, Tyson, and 6-year old daughter, Braedyn. The West family resides in Wheeling, W.Va.
