Steve Gansey selected as Fort Wayne Mad Ants head coach

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the D-League team that is now owned by the Indiana Pacers, officially named Steve Gansey its head coach Friday afternoon.

Gansey, who’s just 30, served as the associate head coach for the Canton Charge last year. He previously worked in the Mad Ants organization for five seasons, including the 2013-14 D-League Championship season.

“I’m extremely honored and privileged to be a part of the Pacers organization and named Head Coach of the Mad Ants,” Gansey said in a press release announcing the hire. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity and returning to Fort Wayne, the city where my coaching career first began.”

Gansey has been in Indianapolis all week for Pacers training camp and he has sat in on all of the coaches meetings. The big advantage of the Pacers owning a team is that they have influence on who is the GM, coach, and the system that is used.

Pacers longtime assistant coach Dan Burke, who typically coaches their Summer League team, invited Gansey to assist him during their participation of the Orlando Summer League in 2013.

“He’s got not only experience in the market but a winning pedigree with the team,” Mad Ants General Manager Brian Levy told VigilantSports.com.

“Last year, he spent with the Canton Charge, which is the Cleveland Cavaliers D-League affiliate, so we got a chance to see how it works — that one-to-one ownership of a team and see how it’s used and guys being assigned, and the sharing of the resources, and facilities, and staff members, and all that goes into it.

“Plus, he’s a great developmental coach. He’s young, he’s energetic, he’s hungry. He’s got all of this experience but he’s still only 30 years old.”

Gansey will have used of many Pacers resources and is expected to coach at least a few Pacers currently in camp throughout the D-League season. Members of the Pacers front office even plan to visit Fort Wayne to check in on their purchase and on the development of their players.

Think you can hoop? The Mad Ants will be holding open tryouts Oct. 17 and 18 in Fort Wayne. They will then take at least five players from open tryouts to camp.

The Mad Ants open the 2015-16 season against the Raptors 905 on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Allen Co. War Memorial Coliseum.