Today is the opening day of the NCAA’s March Madness tournament, but since I was brought to Hoops Addict to write about the NBA Development League, I won’t be talking about most basketball fans’ favorite weekend.

Instead, my introductory post will be focused on Mike Gansey, a 6-foot-4 guard for the Erie BayHawks. You may remember Gansey for having a successful NCAA tournament for the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2005 after leading them to a 7-seed while averaging 12 points as well as a team-high 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals for the Mountaineers.

“That tourney helped my pro career tremendously. I think it really helped me put West Virginia, as well as myself, on the national scene,” said Gansey. “I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now if we hadn’t had such a good tournament. It still seems every other day someone asks me about the Wake Forest game.”

The ‘Wake Forest game’ was probably the biggest game of his college career. Gansey broke out to score 29 points and grab seven rebounds, upsetting Chris Paul’s 2-seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a double-overtime thriller and advancing West Virginia to the Sweet 16. The Mountaineers would go on to beat Texas Tech before losing in overtime to Louisville in the Elite Eight.

“That was an unbelievable experience,” Gansey recalled. “I had the best game of my career in front of my family and friends in Cleveland. I mean, it’s something I always look back at and say, ‘Man, those were like the best times of my life.’”

Following Gansey’s successful college career, he nearly made the Miami Heat as an undrafted rookie. Unfortunately, he collapsed during a workout with the Heat due to what was eventually diagnosed as MRSA, a type of staph infection. It was nearly a year until Gansey was back at full strength.

“It has been a very long trip back from being sick after college,” Gansey said. “I am just blessed to be playing basketball right now after what I went through – I lost 40 pounds and never knew if I would be able to play again.”

Fortunately, Gansey was able to return to basketball, and now in his first season in the NBA Development League, he’s playing better than he ever has before.

Since a mid-season trade from the Idaho Stampede to the Erie BayHawks for former Washington Wizard Donell Taylor, Gansey’s been on a tear, seemingly more comfortable playing closer to his family and friends from his hometown of Olmsted Falls, Ohio.

Either that, or he just has a knack for playing well in the month of March.

“My game hasn’t really changed much since people saw me in college, actually,” Gansey explained. “I feel like I still do a lot of things to help my team, just at a higher level maybe. I just try to be unselfish and shoot the ball well … plus hustle on every play.”

In six games this month, Gansey’s averaging 26.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and two steals per game while shooting 55% from the field and 49% from the 3-point line leading his 18-25 BayHawks to a 5-1 record.

Scott Schroeder blogs obsessively about the D-League year-round at Ridiculous Upside.