Not a day goes by during the basketball season when Paul Weir doesn’t get reminded of one of his most cherished recruits from Canada.

On the New Mexico State University’s associate head coach’s office wall is a picture of Brampton’s Kofi Mensa, a young man who brought smiles to the faces of so many in the GTA basketball community before losing a battle with cancer in 2010. He was 19.

Weir, a Toronto native, holds a special place in the hearts of Mensa’s father Nana and mother Comfort for the way he treated their son after it became clear a promising basketball career was no longer the focus during a two-year fight with a rare form of the dreaded disease — mesothelioma of the small intestine.

Just like in the past three years at NCAA tournament time, the Mensa family will be cheering on the Western Athletic Conference champion Aggies — Team Canada of the NCAA, with four active Canadians on the roster — when they take on the heavily favoured Kansas Jayhawks on Friday in Omaha, Neb.

“They did an amazing, amazing thing,” Comfort said over the phone. “I really appreciate what they did for him. As soon as the diagnosis was made (in 2008), (some) schools stopped writing and coming here. They kept writing. Even though he was diagnosed, they still kept in touch and they were still talking to Kofi. They never left him alone.”

Right until the day of his death on Nov. 15, 2010, Weir’s offer never changed. A full scholarship was there for Mensa to get a college education whether he played basketball or not.

“They did a fantastic job,” Nana said. “They said he could sit on the bench, be an assistant coach and help us. They said they really needed his spirit to ignite the team. They really encouraged him.”

Weir is the first to admit Mensa very well could have gone to a higher-ranked program had he been healthy. A trail blazer, Mensa was one of the first players from the GTA’s CIA Bounce AAU program to head south for prep school, going to Mountain State Academy in West Virginia.

“He was,” Weir said, “one of the best players from the GTA in the past 10 years and no one (except those deeply involved in the hoops community) knows about it.”

Added current Florida State star Xavier Rathan-Mayes of Scarborough, in an interview with the Herald-Dispatch in West Virginia in 2013: “Guys like Kofi and (former Texas star) Myck (Kabongo), they started this pipeline coming down to the States to play the best competition. It wouldn’t be possible for us to do what we do without some of those guys.”

Weir, with a history of bringing Canadian kids to the mid-major, figured he might as well take a shot with Mensa.

“When you’re recruiting from a school at our level, we’re competing against schools at the BCS level,” Weir said. “Players like Kofi get recruited by those types of schools. There are two perspectives for how to approach us (for those kind of players). One is they’re too good for us. Two is they’re still very appreciated to be recruited. He was one of those guys who was extremely appreciative.

“Getting to know him and his family, they were incredible. Seeing how special they were, sticking with them through any of that was the least we could have done.”

After his first 12-hour surgery, Mensa went back to school in West Virginia. But a few months later, the cancer had spread. A 17-hour surgery followed.

“I remember we were in the car driving one day and one of his friends said, ‘Why Kofi,’ ” Comfort recalled. “He just said, ‘Maybe I’m the one who can take it.’ I’m so proud of him. Even the doctors and nurses talked about his positive attitude. If he talked to you, you would have never believed he’s that sick ... He taught us a lot — how to give and how to be happy. The good news is he’s no longer suffering. I know where he is and talking about him brings me joy.”

This summer, the annual King Fee Classic will be held in Toronto on Aug. 8-9, with all proceeds going to cancer research at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Mensa’s legacy, meanwhile, lives on across the basketball landscape, especially at New Mexico State.

“Many Canadians down here would speak of him in great ways,” Weir said. “He was such a great human being, you can’t describe him any other ways. He was such a special person, with a fantastic smile and an engaging personality. But my relationship with him was not unique. He had that affection with everyone (around him).”

MAKING HISTORY

New Mexico State Aggies star Daniel Mullings will enter uncharted territory when he steps on the court against the Kansas Jayhawks in an NCAA tournament game on Friday.

The Scarborough native and Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate graduate will become the first player in Aggies history to play in March Madness for the fourth straight year when his No. 15-seeded team takes on No. 2 Kansas.

“He’s such a dynamic player and he influences the game so much,” Aggies associate head coach Paul Weir, a Toronto native, said. “His offence, defence and rebounding is so impactful. He really improves your chances of winning.”

Mullings’ Aggies, always an underdog, have lost their first game at the tournament the past three years.

mike.koreen@sunmedia.ca