By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Contrary to what his emotional outbursts and erratic play might suggest, David West's NBA draft stock is still high, say league scouts.

In Xavier's two losses to Alabama and Richmond this month, West became visibly upset at officials and even received a technical foul against Richmond, all while totaling just 10 points. But he followed those games with back-to-back-to-back double-doubles against St. Bonaventure, LaSalle and Massachusetts - all Xavier wins - and looked more like the All-American he was expected to be in his senior season.

West's blowups at officials won't be a problem for NBA teams, said a Western Conference scout, as long as they don't continue the rest of the season. An Eastern Conference scout said pro teams see that all the time from their own players, and West has shown a high level of maturity in the past.

"People really shouldn't get too concerned about all of that emotion," an Eastern Conference scout said. "Fans and radio people do because they have a fan's perspective. Talent evaluators don't worry about that. I would be concerned if there were fights, but there's not any fights. He's an emotional guy on the court, but you don't see any off-court problems."

West admits that emotion drives him on the court, and he doesn't intend to alter his approach, which has earned him two straight Atlantic 10 Player of the Year awards. But his teams have yet to advance deep into the NCAA Tournament, part of the reason he returned for his senior season.

"He has probably had a lot of pressure," said an Eastern Conference scout, "and thinks this is his last chance to do something at Xavier, which it is."

No one seems exactly sure where West will be taken in June's amateur draft, but at least a half dozen scouts say West began the season as a projected first-round pick and is still in that category.

"David West is somewhat of a puzzle," said NBA director of scouting Marty Blake. "He's had some good games and some bad games, mostly good games. Is he a can't-miss? No, but he'll go to a team that needs him."

West passed up a chance to go pro after last season and returned to Xavier. Several scouts said that was the right choice and he will likely be drafted higher than he would have been last year. A mock draft at nbadraft.net has West going in the first round to the Indiana Pacers with the 26th pick.

West hasn't fallen much, if at all, said another Eastern Conference scout, because he wasn't considered a lottery pick, but rather an unknown that could go in the first round after the first 13 picks.

"At this point, we've all seen him many times, so there's really nothing he can do, good or bad, to help him too much," said an Eastern Conference scout who has seen West several times this season.

For his part, West has said very little about the draft all season while he focuses on playing for Xavier (11-4, 2-1 Atlantic 10), ranked 23rd in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll.

"I don't need to (think about it)," West said. "Probably after the season, I guess."

Blake recommended that West attend the Portsmouth Invitational in April, a pre-draft tournament for seniors in Portsmouth, Va.

"(West) will get invited to Portsmouth," Blake said. "It would be foolish of him not to go to Portsmouth where he will play the four (power forward)."

That is West's position at Xavier, but Blake said West has to improve his defense and ball-handling to succeed in the NBA.

"He is a very good player, and he can do a lot of things," Blake said. "He has shown he can shoot from outside. David West will get an opportunity in the NBA.

"Right now, he needs to not worry about that, and worry about what he can do to help Xavier. He's going to make a lot of All-American teams, which will help him as well to get his name out."

Duke Llewellyn, chairman of the John Wooden Award, which goes to the nation's top player, said West is still a viable candidate. West and Xavier junior Romain Sato were on a list of 50 preseason candidates.

"Right now, West would be in better position than Sato," Llewellyn said. "Not that he's that much better, but there's a lot more name recognition with David West."

AWARDS: Xavier players won four of the Atlantic 10 Conference's weekly awards Sunday.

On the men's side, West was named Co-Player of the Week, while Dedrick Finn received the Rookie of the Week award.

On the women's side, senior Amy Waugh was named Co-Player of the Week, while the Co-Rookie of the Week award went to Tara Booth, her fifth award this season.

West averaged 19.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in two Xavier wins against La Salle and Massachusetts. Finn shot .700 from the field and averaged 13.0 points and became Xavier's first men's Rookie of the Week since current junior Romain Sato won the award as a freshman.

Waugh averaged 27.5 points and shot 60 percent from 3-point range, leading Xavier to a pair of wins against La Salle and Richmond. Boothe shot 50 percent from the field and averaged 16.0 points per game and remains the top freshman scorer in the Atlantic 10.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com