Purdue latest to offer West

Junior safety Darius West rose on the football recruiting scene this off-season with several strong camp appearances. He has continued that high level of play this fall, and is watching his scholarship offer list grow as a result.

"Purdue just offered me," West said Monday night. "[The coach] said they offered me this spring, but I didn't know. He said if I didn't know, then now I know."

West remembers talking with one of the Purdue coaches last spring, but he did not know about his offer from the Boilermakers until Monday night. They join Cincinnati, Illinois, Akron, Bowling Green and Toledo on the junior safety's offer list.

Purdue is one campus West has not been able to visit yet, but he has been on several other campuses this season. Already he has attended Louisville, Cincinnati, Ohio State and, most recently, Michigan State for their home matchup with Notre Dame on Sept. 15.

"It was real nice, the atmosphere was nice and all. Notre Dame came to play," West said. "Both are recruiting me and I can't really root for a team, but it was exciting to see both of them play hard."

West's former Lima Central Catholic teammate, Tyler O'Connor, is a freshman quarterback at Michigan State. Although he did not get a chance to catch up with O'Connor, West did talk briefly with assistant coach Mike Tressel.

"He just told me he was glad to have me down there," West said. "He was real busy and didn't have any time to stop and really talk, but we talked on Facebook after the game."

The week prior to his visit to Michigan State, West was in Columbus to see Ohio State play host to UCF. Interest from the Buckeyes has been strong since the summer.

"I have been talking to them a lot, actually," West said. 'After the game I talked to Coach [Tim] Hinton and Coach [Kerry] Coombs and they were saying they were happy I came down. Coach Hinton said their defense really didn't play good, but he was hoping I liked the game and they were going to be all over me."

Although he already has six offers in hand, West continues to see interest grow from more schools and could be on the receiving end of additional scholarship offers in the near future.

"I am just being patient for Wisconsin, Ohio State and Indiana. They should be coming around soon," West said. "I've been talking to Wisconsin a lot and I was going to go [visit], but that's pretty far. I told them I would come down for a camp this summer."

West's next trip could be to Indiana for the Hoosier's home game against Ohio State on Oct. 13. In the meantime, he is trying to keep Lima Central Catholic's perfect record intact. Already this season West has pulled down three interceptions and he has also returned a kickoff for a touchdown.