- Mike Gansey
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Mike Gansey Position Shooting Guard Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Weight 188 lb (85 kg) Team Isla de Tenerife Canarias Born December 21, 1982
Olmsted Falls, OhioNationality American College St. Bonaventure (2001-2003)
West Virginia (2004-2006)Draft Undrafted, 2006 Pro career 2006–present Career history Miami Heat (2006-2007)
Fabriano Basket (2007-2008)
Idaho Stampede (2009)
Eisbaren Bremerhaven (2009-2010)
Erie Bayhawks (2009-2010)
CB 1939 Canarias (2010-present)Medal record Men’s Basketball Competitor for 
United StatesSummer Universiade Gold 2005 Izmir Team competition Michael Gansey (born December 21, 1982) is an American basketball player who played on an NBA roster for the Los Angeles Clippers on their 2007 Vegas Summer League team.[1] After the summer league was over, he signed a contract for the 2007/08 season with the Italian team Indesit Fabriano. He played his college basketball as a shooting guard for the West Virginia University Mountaineers.
The 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 188 lb (85 kg) guard emerged as a national star for the Mountaineers during his tenure at WVU. Although it was speculated that he may get drafted as high as late first round in the 2006 NBA Draft, Gansey, along with his West Virginia teammate Kevin Pittsnogle, went undrafted. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Heat in July 2006,[2] and played in summer league games, but was waived before the season. Mike was waived after having a life-threatening staph infection that limited his play.[3]
On September 24, 2008, Gansey was selected by the Erie Bayhawks' with the first overall pick in the expansion draft.[4] One of Mike's brothers, Steve Gansey, played NCAA Division II basketball for the Ashland Eagles, after playing his freshman and sophomore years with the Division I Cleveland State Vikings. Now he is the top assistant coach for the NBA D-League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Contents
Early years
Gansey, who grew up in the Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Olmsted Falls, was a three-time All-State player at Olmsted Falls High School, including first-team honors in his final two years. He is the school's all-time leading scorer at 1,909 points for his career. In his senior season, he averaged 27.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 3.3 steals per game, and was named the state's Division II Player of the Year, finishing second in Mr. Basketball voting behind LeBron James, current Miami Heat star.[5] He then began his college career at St. Bonaventure University.
In Gansey's freshman season of 2001-02, he averaged 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds, mainly coming off the bench, and was named to the all-newcomer team in the Atlantic Ten Conference. The following season (2002–03), he became a regular starter, averaging 13.9 points and 5.0 rebounds, and also shooting just over 40% from three-point range. However, the St. Bonaventure basketball program would be rocked by an academic scandal during that season, when it was revealed that a junior-college transfer had been admitted to the university by virtue of a welding certificate.[1] With NCAA sanctions hanging over the program, several players, including Gansey, jumped ship immediately after that season. Once he announced his intention to transfer, he was pursued especially hard by WVU coach John Beilein, who was coaching in the A-10 at Richmond during Gansey's freshman year at St. Bonaventure. Gansey would enroll at West Virginia University.
West Virginia
After sitting out the 2003-04 season as required under NCAA transfer rules, Gansey entered the Mountaineers' starting lineup. During the summer of 2004, the team toured Europe (all Division I teams are allowed one offseason overseas trip every four years); Gansey scored 22 points in his first game as a Mountaineer, against the Netherlands national team. He went on to lead the Mountaineers in scoring on the tour at 15.5 points per game.
In his first season at WVU, he averaged 12.0 points and 5.1 rebounds, leading the team in rebounds and becoming a crowd favorite for his hustling play. During a strong late-season run, Gansey and teammate Kevin Pittsnogle were the main keys to turning the Mountaineers from an NCAA tournament "bubble team" to a regional finalist that lost its bid for the Final Four in overtime against Louisville. During the offseason, Gansey played on the gold medal-winning USA team at the World University Games in Turkey.
The 2005-06 season promised to be a big season for the Mountaineers, who were returning four of their starting five and virtually all their roster. As the Mountaineers were reaching heights in the national rankings they had not seen since the early 1980s and gaining a level of national publicity they had last seen in the days of Jerry West in the late 1950s, Gansey stepped up his game to a new level. As of February 9, 2006, he was averaging 18.5 points while taking fewer than 12 shots per game, and adding 5.5 rebounds per game. More remarkably, Gansey was shooting 59.7% from the field, making him the only player in NCAA Division I under 6'5" (1.96 m) in the top 50 in the nation in field-goal percentage. WVU made the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA Tournament before losing a heartbreaker to the Texas Longhorns on a buzzer-beating 3 pointer.
Gansey had the 18th highest career scoring average at WVU (14.35), the ninth best field goal percentage in a career (52.6%), the third best 3-point field goal percentage in a career (39.4%), the seventh most steals per game in a career (1.75) and the 12th most minutes per game in a career (32.12). Gansey was named First-team All Big-East[6] as well as an All-American.[7] He was one of ten finalists for the Oscar Robertson Award,[8] a finalist for the Wooden Award,[9] as well as a finalist for the Naismith Trophy.[10]
NBA D-League
Erie Bayhawks
On September 24, 2008, Gansey was selected with the Erie Bayhawks' first round pick in the 2008 expansion draft.[4]
Idaho Stampede
On November 5, 2009, Gansey was drafted by Idaho Stampede in the 2009 D-league draft.[4]
Professional career
In 2007-08 season, he goes to Italy to play in Fabriano Basket. The following 2008-09 season he goes to Germany and plays for Eisbaren Bremerhaven in the top division of the BBL. In the 2009-10 he goes to play in Chengdu, China for the NBA China Challenge. Later, in the 2009-10 season, he signs with Ciudad de La Laguna Canarias, team of LEB Oro.
References
- ^ "Clippers Summer League Roster Set". Clippers TopBuzz. 2007-07-02. http://clippers.topbuzz.com/a-453373974.html.
- ^ Rick Starr (July 6, 2006). "WVU's Gansey signs deal with Heat". -Tribune-Review (Pittsburgh). http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/wvu/s_460797.html.
- ^ Steve Delsohn and Brian Franey (March 16, 2007). "MRSA has sidelined careers, even caused death". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2800948.
- ^ a b c NBA Development League: 2008 Expansion Draft Board
- ^ "Sophomore named Ohio Mr. Basketball". The Associated Press. March 22, 2001. http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/03/22/spt_sophomore_named_ohio.html.
- ^ John Antonik (March 6, 2006). "Men's Basketball: Pittsnogle, Gansey Make 1st Team". MSNsportsNET.com. http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=9066.
- ^ Dick Vitale (March 8, 2006). "The creme de la creme of college basketball". ESPN.COM. http://assets.espn.go.com/dickvitale/060308VitaleonAll-Americateams.html.
- ^ "Redick, Williams among Robertson Trophy finalists (Associated Press)". ESPN.com. February 28, 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2347756.
- ^ "Redick, Brown headline Wooden Award midseason list". ESPN.com. January 30, 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2312048.
- ^ "Men's Basketball: Naismith Candidates". MSNsportsNET.com. November 23, 2005. http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=8598.
External links
- Official WVU profile
- ESPN profile
- Story on this season's WVU team, with information about Gansey
- Forde The remmergence of the white player
- Forde: America's accidental powerhouse
- Katz: Cardiac kids
- Katz: No quit pro quo
- Gansey's late free throws lift West Virginia
Categories:- 1982 births
- Living people
- American basketball players
- American expatriate basketball people in China
- American expatriate basketball people in Germany
- American expatriate basketball people in Italy
- Anaheim Arsenal players
- Basketball players from Ohio
- Erie BayHawks players
- Idaho Stampede players
- People from Cleveland, Ohio
- St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball players
- West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players
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