By Wendell Barnhouse



NATCHITOCHES, La. – If patience is a virtue, then no college basketball player is more virtuous than Jalan West.



Of the tens of thousands of jump-stop moves West has made, two have paused the career of the Northwestern State senior guard. The first tore the ACL in his left knee. After he rehabbed with the aim of playing his senior season, a jump stop in a workout shredded the patched ACL.



Sitting in a chair courtside at Prather Coliseum after a recent practice, West is reminded that it’s Friday the 13th. The first ACL injury came in a game played on … Friday the 13th. “Maybe I shouldn’t have practiced today,” he says with a smile.



A three-time all-state selection at Bossier (La.) High School and a McDonald’s All-American as a senior, West arrived on the Northwestern State campus as a freshman in 2011. He turned 24 on April 12. West had to redshirt in 2011-12 because of academic issues...