'It was really an easy decision': Goodpasture's Isaiah West commits to Vanderbilt

The state's top Class of 2023 boys basketball prospect is staying home.

Goodpasture senior Isaiah West announced his commitment to Vanderbilt over Ole Miss Wednesday afternoon. He is the Commodores' first commitment in their 2023 class. 

West's other top schools included Cincinnati, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Ohio State, Tennessee State, Virginia and Virginia Tech. 

"It was really an easy decision," West said. "Vanderbilt believed in me the most. Since I was a kid growing up, it was a dream of mine to go to Vanderbilt, not necessarily to play basketball but to go there was always a dream of mine."

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West, a 6-foot-1 combo guard, is ranked 148th overall, the No. 23 combo guard in the country and the No. 1 prospect in the state for 2023 graduates, according to the 247Sports Composite.

On3 also has West ranked as the top player in the state and 247Sports has him ranked behind Clarksville Academy's Eddie Ricks III. ESPN100 has West as the No. 44 player in the country. 

"Getting to play for Coach Stackhouse, I'll be able to learn a lot of NBA terminology and sets that you see in the NBA," West said. "It's a really great opportunity for me."

West played a pivotal role in the Cougars' run to their first state championship in 2020. As a sophomore, he averaged 15.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. 

His junior season was cut short when he tore his ACL on December 30. 

"The recovery process has been going pretty good," West said. "I'm right on schedule, kind of ahead of schedule really, because of everything I've been doing outside of the regular work. It's been going really smooth and hopefully I'm back as soon as possible." 

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.