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Cavs assistant coach Mike Malone, a lead assistant coach at Manhattan College, tried unsuccessfully to recruit West to the Jaspers.
West also struck up an acquaintance with Eric Snow, when the latter was with the Philadelphia 76ers.
And, finally, he's from the same hometown as Cavs general manager Danny Ferry.
The Cavs have been trying to land West for at least two years.
''It's a wonderful feeling,'' West said after his first practice with the Cavs at Cleveland Clinic Courts. ''It seems like everything is pointing here for the longest time.''
Malone and West reminisced about college recruiting.
''Coach Malone was the only coach to recruit me coming out of high school,'' the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder said. ''ÔCome to Manhattan College. You're going to be a pro one day.' Of the top 200 high school players, I was ranked 498.''
He spurned Manhattan's offer and signed with St. Joe's.
Jones said West is ready to step into the starting job.
''He played pretty well in Boston,'' he said. ''I'm sure he's been anxiously awaiting an opportunity like this.
''He definitely has the skill-set and the mindset to play point guard in the NBA. His competitive fire is high. He'll do whatever it takes to win.''
West calls Snow one of his mentors.
''He was coming out of the barber shop when he played for the Sixers,'' he said. ''I chased him down and it was raining. He told me to sit in his car, a 750 BMW. Me and D.J. were driving around a 1983 Volvo. ÔKeep working hard and you can have this some day.' He flew me down to Las Vegas that year to Tim Grgurich's camp. I started believing I could make it in this league. I owe a lot of credit to Eric Snow. It's a great fit for me here.''
He said despite his mediocre numbers in Seattle this season, West said he's a shooter. He shot a career-low 38.8 percent from the field in 35 games with the SuperSonics. He averaged 6.8 points and 3.2 assists.
''I'm going to do what I do best: Play hard and make winning plays on the court,'' West said. ''LeBron (James) draws so much attention. I have to get us in our sets, be ready to shoot the open jumper and defend the hell out of the ball.''
West thinks of himself as a point guard and not a combo guard.
''I do a lot of things well,'' he said. ''Shooting the ball is one of the things I do well. You can't really tell looking at my first-half stats, but shooting is one of my specialties.''
rfinnan@news-herald.co
