Former St. Joe’s Standout and 2017 GMC Hoops POY, Heads to GLIAC
MARQUETTE, MI—Letrell West is heading to the Midwest. After leading Middlesex County College to the 2019 Region 19 Championship last year, and playing his sophomore year at Claflin University, the former St. Joe’s and Piscataway Tech standout, and 1,000 point scorer is now heading to the Upper Midwest and Northern Michigan of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
GMC Hoops had recently learned via Rob Noonan on twitter that West was looking for a new home after leaving Claflin. Then, over this past weekend, West made an announcement on Instagram that he had committed to continue his academic and athletic career on a full scholarship at Northern Michigan. West just finished his sophomore year.
At Claflin, a member of the CIAA, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, West played in 30 of 31 games for the Panthers, and started in 24 of those contests. He played a total of 733 minutes, made 112 of 270 field goal attempts for 41 percent including 56 of 157 three point attempts for 35.7 percent, and made 81 of 99 free throws for 81.8 percent to tally 361 points, or about 12.0 points per game.
In addition, West collected a total of 76 rebounds, 60 assists, and 22 steals for an average of a little over 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest. His season high in minutes this past season was 34 minutes, which he did on several occasions. After opening the 2019-20 campaign with a 14 point performance at West Chester in Pennsylvania, West tallied a season high of 33 points in a 94-77 Panthers victory over Kutztown University in the final round of the CIAA-PSAC Challenge.
In that victory over Kutztown, West made a season high 11 field goals in 15 attempts including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc while also netting 7 of 8 from the foul line. He also had a season high 6 threes twice during the course of the season including a 6 of 7 performance from long distance in a 26 point performance against Savannah State (94-67 victory) on December 6th, and a 6 of 8 effort from downtown against Virginia Union (85-84 OT victory) on January 9th.
West, who was among the top free throw shooters in the country at the Division 3 NJCAA JUCO level for MCC a year ago, made a season high 10 of 11 from the charity stripe in a 76-61 victory at Lincoln University on December 12th. He enjoyed season highs in rebounding (5 versus Virginia State on February 5th) and assists (5 versus Bowie State on January 11th) as well as steals (3 against Winston Salem State) in three other conference games.
West led the Panthers in scoring, field goals made, three pointers made, and free throws made, third in total rebounds, third in assists, fourth in steals, and second in minutes per game. This past season, Claflin went 15-16 overall including a 9-8 mark in the CIAA. The Panthers then made a nice run in the CIAA Tournament by reaching the semifinals with wins over Elizabeth City State University (70-60 in OT) and Virgina State University (63-58) before falling to Winston-Salem State (58-56).
Meanwhile, Northern Michigan finished 13-17 overall this past season including a 9-11 mark in GLIAC play. The Wildcats also reached the semifinal round of its conference tournament with a 70-69 upset victory over top seeded Ferris State before losing to 4th seeded Northwood (64-53) in the semis. Northwood ultimately lost to 3rd seeded Michigan Tech (68-57) in the Championship Game. The Wildcats went 17-12 including 11-9 in conference play in 2018-19, and 15-13 overall and 12-8 in conference in 2017-18.
Congratulations Letrell, and best wishes for continued success.