Mike Gansey
Encyclopedia
Michael Gansey is an American
basketball
player who played on an NBA roster for the Los Angeles Clippers on their 2007 Vegas Summer League team. 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 in 4 in (1.93 m), 188 lb (85.3 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, 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.
On September 24, 2008, Gansey was selected by the Erie Bayhawks
' with the first overall pick in the expansion draft. 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
.
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. He then began his college career at St. Bonaventure University
.
. 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.http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/atlantic10/2003-11-18-stbonaventure-timeline.htm 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.
(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 as well as an All-American. He was one of ten finalists for the Oscar Robertson Award, a finalist for the Wooden Award, as well as a finalist for the Naismith Trophy.
' first round pick in the 2008 expansion draft.
in the 2009 D-league draft.
. 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
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player who played on an NBA roster for the Los Angeles Clippers on their 2007 Vegas Summer League team. After the summer league was over, he signed a contract for the 2007/08 season with the Italian team Indesit Fabriano
Fabriano Basket
Fabriano Basket, also known for sponsorship reasons as Indesit Fabriano, is an Italian professional basketball team from the town of Fabriano....
. He played his college basketball as a shooting guard
Shooting guard
The shooting guard , also known as the two or off guard, is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. A shooting guard's main objective is to score points for his team...
for the West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
Mountaineers
West Virginia Mountaineers
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams of West Virginia University. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Big East Conference. On July 1, 2012 the Mountaineers will switch conferences, moving from the Big East to the Big 12, becoming...
.
The 6 in 4 in (1.93 m), 188 lb (85.3 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
2006 NBA Draft
The 2006 NBA Draft was held on June 28, 2006 at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players,...
, Gansey, along with his West Virginia teammate Kevin Pittsnogle
Kevin Pittsnogle
Kevin Lee Pittsnogle Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played for the Pittsburgh Xplosion of the CBA and the Austin Toros and the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA D-League....
, went undrafted. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Heat
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
in July 2006, 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.
On September 24, 2008, Gansey was selected by the Erie Bayhawks
Erie BayHawks
The Erie BayHawks are a 2008-09 expansion team in the NBA Development League. The team plays its home games at the Louis J. Tullio Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania.The "BayHawks" name is a reference to Presque Isle Bay, on which the city of Erie lies...
' with the first overall pick in the expansion draft. One of Mike's brothers, Steve Gansey, played NCAA Division II basketball for the Ashland Eagles
Ashland Eagles
-External links:*...
, after playing his freshman and sophomore years with the Division I Cleveland State Vikings
Cleveland State Vikings
The Cleveland State Vikings, or Vikes, are the athletic teams of Cleveland State University. Before as Fenn College they were known as the Fenn College Foxes or Fenn Foxes. Cleveland State competes in NCAA Division I. They have been a member of the NCAA Division I since 1972. They were previously...
. Now he is the top assistant coach for the NBA D-League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Fort Wayne Mad Ants
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are a team of the NBA Development League, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is the home venue for the team. The team is the first minor league basketball franchise to play in Fort Wayne since the Fort Wayne Fury...
.
Early years
Gansey, who grew up in the Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
suburb of Olmsted Falls
Olmsted Falls, Ohio
-External links:***...
, 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
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...
, current Miami Heat
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
star. He then began his college career at St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University is a private, Franciscan Catholic university, located in Allegany, Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students....
.
St. Bonaventure
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 ConferenceAtlantic Ten Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference is a college athletic conference which operates mostly on the United States' eastern seaboard. It also has two member schools in Ohio: Dayton and Xavier, located in Dayton and Cincinnati, respectively. Another member, Saint Louis is located in St. Louis, Missouri...
. 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.http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/atlantic10/2003-11-18-stbonaventure-timeline.htm With NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
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
John Beilein
John Beilein is an American college basketball coach and current men's basketball head coach at the University of Michigan. He is the 16th head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. The 2010–11 season was his fourth at Michigan, with whom he has a six-year contract...
, who was coaching in the A-10 at Richmond
University of Richmond
The University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...
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 EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(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
Netherlands national basketball team
The Dutch national basketball team is the basketball side that represents the Netherlands in international competitions. It is administrated by the Netherlands Basketball Federation. When it qualified for the Eurobasket, team Netherlands has played quite competitive at some of the tournaments. The...
. 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
Kevin Pittsnogle
Kevin Lee Pittsnogle Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played for the Pittsburgh Xplosion of the CBA and the Austin Toros and the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA D-League....
were the main keys to turning the Mountaineers from an NCAA tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
"bubble team" to a regional finalist that lost its bid for the Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
in overtime against Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
. During the offseason, Gansey played on the gold medal-winning USA team at the World University Games
Universiade
The Universiade is an International multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation . The name is a combination of the words "University" and "olympiad"...
in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
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
Jerry West
Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
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 as well as an All-American. He was one of ten finalists for the Oscar Robertson Award, a finalist for the Wooden Award, as well as a finalist for the Naismith Trophy.
Erie Bayhawks
On September 24, 2008, Gansey was selected with the Erie BayhawksErie BayHawks
The Erie BayHawks are a 2008-09 expansion team in the NBA Development League. The team plays its home games at the Louis J. Tullio Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania.The "BayHawks" name is a reference to Presque Isle Bay, on which the city of Erie lies...
' first round pick in the 2008 expansion draft.
Idaho Stampede
On November 5, 2009, Gansey was drafted by Idaho StampedeIdaho Stampede
The Idaho Stampede is an American basketball team that plays in the NBA Development League. The team is based in the Boise, Idaho, area and as of 2005 plays at the CenturyLink Arena in Boise. The team was founded as a member of the Continental Basketball Association in 1997 and was league runner-up...
in the 2009 D-league draft.
Professional career
In 2007-08 season, he goes to Italy to play in Fabriano BasketFabriano Basket
Fabriano Basket, also known for sponsorship reasons as Indesit Fabriano, is an Italian professional basketball team from the town of Fabriano....
. The following 2008-09 season he goes to Germany and plays for Eisbaren Bremerhaven
Eisbären Bremerhaven
The team was born of the older team BSG Bremerhaven and is playing its sixth season in the Basketball Bundesliga .-Roster:- Depth Chart :-Other Staff:*Assistant Coach: Stephan Voelkel*Athletic Trainer: Michael Seedorf...
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
CB 1939 Canarias
Club Baloncesto 1939 Canarias, also known as Iberostar Canarias by sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Canary Islands and plays in the Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín, in LEB league....
, team of LEB Oro
Liga Española de Baloncesto
Liga Española de Baloncesto is the second league of the Spanish basketball league system behind the ACB. It is run by the FEB. The Liga Española de Baloncesto is divided into two categories and they are sponsored by Adecco. The names of the two leagues are Adecco Oro and Adecco Plata.The LEB league...
.