Mike Gansey: Player Of The Week, Newest RU Blogger

The Erie BayHawks' Mike Gansey was today named NBA Development League Performer of the Week for games played during the Week of Jan. 25, 2010.

Gansey led Erie to a 2-1 record last week, scoring a season-high 27 points in 48 minutes on Jan. 30 at Springfield's MassMutual Center. 

The 6-4 guard out of West Virginia averaged 24.3 points to go with 7.3 rebounds 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals. He scored more than 20 points in all three contests.  He also hit 13 of his 25 shots from beyond the arc.

Earlier today, the D-League named Gansey the player performer of the week.   This afternoon, I'd like to unveil him as the newest addition to the RU Crew.

You more than likely remember Gansey from his stellar career at West Virginia, where he, along with fellow D-Leaguer Kevin Pittsnogle, reached consecutive Sweet 16's, including an appearance in the Elite Eight in 2005.  You might remember him from this legendary performance when he dropped 29 points on Chris Paul's Wake Forest Deamon Deacons in a March Madness double-overtime thriller.

Due to two separate bouts with MRSA, Gansey's pro career didn't start like it should have, but seems to be back on the right track now.

He went undrafted and, after becoming sicker during summer camp with the Heat, ultimately ended up bedridden for two weeks. Weeks later, the first time he returned to the gym after getting out of the hospital, he collapsed on the floor after a light workout. Not long after that the infection returned, this time in his ankle. It was nearly a year until Gansey was back at full strength.

Gansey first noticed what looked like a pimple during pre-draft workouts and felt steadily weaker as the draft approached.

"I was just out of it," Gansey said. "I didn't have any energy, and then all of a sudden, when I was down in Miami, my knee just blew up. That's when I knew it was something bad."

It turned out to be methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

"It was frustrating at the time, but now I'm just happy to be playing," Gansey said. "This (MRSA) is serious business. It's not something you take lightly. One scratch, one pimple, and you can be looking at something that's potentially fatal."

Gansey seems to be 100% now and on his way to, hopefully, getting another shot in the NBA.  Until then (and hopefully through the NBA experience, if we're lucky), Gansey has promised that he is "excited and will try his best to make it exciting and fun for the readers."

Welcome, Mike!