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Jamie Vaught: Overcoming adversity, UK’s West feeling good about being a difference-maker


It is sure nice to see injury-plagued Darius West back in action.

After sitting out three of the past four seasons, including most of his senior year at Lima Central Catholic High School in Ohio, due to several injuries as well as a redshirt year as a freshman at Kentucky, West is finally seeing lots of playing time for the Wildcats.

And the UK junior defensive back is off to a good start after missing the 2016 campaign due to a preseason knee injury.

In the season-opening contest at Southern Miss, West earned his first career start, getting seven tackles, team’s second-highest, while causing a fumble.

After sitting out three of the past four seasons, including most of his senior year at Lima Central Catholic High School in Ohio, due to several injuries as well as a redshirt year as a freshman at Kentucky, Darius West is finally seeing lots of playing time for the Wildcats (Jamie Vaught Photo)

That’s not all. West also shined against Eastern Kentucky even though he didn’t start. The 6-0, 210-pounder recorded 11 tackles – both a team-high and a career-high.

Also, in his latest outing, West had six tackles, including four solos, during UK’s 23-13 surprising road victory over South Carolina this past weekend.

He currently leads team in tackles with 24. Going into Saturday night’s UK-Florida showdown in Lexington, West is ranked among the SEC leaders in tackles, placing at No. 12 with an average of 8.0. (UK linebacker Courtney Love is No. 15 with a 7.7 average.)

When West first returned to action recently, he wasn’t that concerned about getting hurt again.

“I just believe in God, myself and my trainers,” said West, who has a son. “My trainers told me that I was going to be able to come back so I never doubted myself. It took a lot of people to push me though. I had to get over humps. My trainers, parents and the motivation of having a child all pushed me and gave me extra motivation.”

During the preseason practices, Stoops was glad to see West back on the field. The coach likes West’s toughness.

“I’m really excited about Darius and just having him out there and it was really good just to get through spring. Just to get some of the rust off, get his confidence back,” commented Stoops. “He’s just got to just go through the practice, get the reps, get the experience, take the coaching, and good things will happen to him.

“But he’s a tough guy, he’s worked really hard to get back on the field, he’s a guy you all will root for because it’s important to him and he’s just got to get the experience. You’ve heard me talk a lot about it, but (as for) the safety position, you need some looks, you need some reps, you need some time and some guys it comes more natural than others, but he’ll work extremely hard at it.”

Added UK defensive coordinator Matt House, “Darius, first and foremost, he brings a physical presence. He’s a guy that likes to mix it up which is big, and believe it or not, in straight-line speed he’s one of our faster guys and so just the depth and the physicality, all those things I look for him to kind of open up a little bit.”

Before West selected Kentucky over schools like Louisville, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and West Virginia, he was a four-star prepster by several recruiting services. He was listed as the nation’s No. 21 safety. Because of injuries, he played only two games as a senior at Lima Central Catholic High.

In addition to football, he also played basketball as a forward and ran for the track team.

After signing with UK, West was expected to have some impact on the team immediately. Stoops called him a very explosive player. 
For West, getting on the field is a great feeling after overcoming many injuries.

“It means a lot to me and it means a lot to my teammates also,” he said. “I just want to come out, do my job and get better every time.”

Well, you certainly have to agree West is a great comeback story for the Wildcats.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Here’s a quick look at the Florida-Kentucky matchup Saturday (SEC Network, 7:30 p.m.)

The 20th-ranked Gators have swamped the Cats for a long time. For Kentucky, last year’s matchup wasn’t pretty as Florida dominated with a 45-7 win in Gainesville, extending a winning streak to 30 games in the series. Coach Jim McElwain’s squad is a leading favorite to win the SEC East Division along with Georgia.

Before the season, I picked Florida by 8. However, I have decided that UK’s momentum with a current three-game winning streak and a meaningful home field advantage in an electrically-charged atmosphere at Kroger Field will be enough – barely — for the Wildcats to pull a mild upset.

Kentucky by 3.

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime columnist in Kentucky, is the author of four books about UK basketball. He is the editor of KySportsStyle.com magazine and a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via e-mail at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.


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