— By Justin Jackson, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In 2003, all Mike Gansey was looking for in a college basketball future was the opportunity for some playing time and a crack at playing in the postseason.
“I was always very realistic with myself,” said Gansey, who’s scheduled for induction into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 22. “I had dreams like everyone else of making it to the NBA, but I wasn’t looking for some school to get me there. I just wanted to find a place where I could be comfortable and maybe have a shot at the (NCAA) tournament.”
His second home at West Virginia provided two two near-legendary trips into March Madness.
The Mountaineers advanced to the 2005 Elite Eight behind Gansey’s 29 points in a storied double-overtime win against second-seeded Wake Forest and star guard Chris Paul. In 2006 Gansey again helped West Virginia advance to the Sweet 16, compiling 976 points and connecting on 119 3-pointers.
“What I found was really one of the greatest places in the world,” said Gansey, now the assistant general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers. “Even when I travel now, I see people with West Virginia stuff on and it gives me a great sense of pride. I have two cousins going to school there now and I never told them one thing to push them there, but I think everyone in my family already knows how much WVU means to me.”
Gansey played his first two college seasons at St. Bonaventure before an academic scandal rocked the program and eventually cost Jan van Breda Kolff his coaching job. With the Bonnies facing sanctions and a possible postseason ban, Gansey looked to change schools.
Many years later, Gansey’s is the kind of story told a lot in the NCAA — especially in men’s basketball, where 40 percent of incoming freshmen will not be with their original school by their junior season.
Behind all of those transfers have come new rules. They govern aspects such as when schools can withdraw a scholarship from an athlete who transfers, and create a database that coaches can use to recruit athletes on the hunt for a new school.
As one who scouts college players for a living, Gansey is up to date on transfer trends. Even though his own college success story includes a transfer tale, Gansey isn’t sure the flood of athletes moving today is good for the game.
“It’s become a transfer market now. It’s really kind of unbelievable,” he said. “Patience sort of gets lost in it all. Everybody wants to be an NBA player right away, or they want to be a starter or a 20-point scorer right away.
“It takes time. You’re supposed to go in as a freshman and work hard and work your way up. Well, that’s all been lost. So now, you see a lot of kids simply transfer because they see a better opportunity someplace else. That’s not always the best thing for anyone, really.”
Gansey won’t place blame and realizes each scenario is different. “Like with my situation, we were going to go on probation. We had to forfeit all of our wins my sophomore year and van Breda Kolff was let go.”
Still, he admits NBA general managers see red flags in a player who attended a number of high schools and colleges.
“To me, college is supposed to be hard,” he said. “You’re away from home for the first time. You’re lifting weights for the first time. You’re in a big atmosphere for the first time. You know, how are you going to handle adversity? Are you going to run away from it or are you going to fight through it and stick to it? I don’t really have the answers on what kids should do, but I wish there could be a little more patience involved.”
Gansey joked he would probably show little patience on his induction day, which will also include former WVU football stars Pat White, Steve Slaton and Avon Cobourne.
He prefers to go first.
“It’s all kind of unreal to me still,” he said. “Going in there with guys like Pat White and Steve Slaton; I went to school with them. I know how much they meant to WVU.
“They will be a tough act to follow, so maybe I should go pretty early.”