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HIGH POINT — The question came more than a decade ago, when Justin Gainey was focused on becoming a solid point guard at N.C. State.

One of the Wolfpack’s assistant coaches, John Groce, asked Gainey if he had considered coaching as a profession. Groce, now the head coach at Ohio University, saw how Gainey’s court awareness and leadership skills could translate into coaching.

“I really hadn’t thought about it,” said Gainey, a High Point native. “But it stuck in the back of my mind.”

The thought stuck through the rest of his college career, which ended in 2000 with Gainey ranking ninth in Wolfpack history with 344 assists and fourth with 190 steals.

The thought remained through his two-year professional career, first in Austria and then in France. The thought stayed when he returned to N.C. State as an intern in the athletics department.

Gainey turned thought into reality by working as an assistant varsity coach at Cary Academy and joining the State basketball staff in an administrative role.

Gainey’s goal of becoming a college head coach took another step last month when he became a full-time assistant under new Elon head coach Matt Matheny. Unlike his most recent role as the Wolfpack’s director of basketball operations, Gainey will be able to recruit and coach players at Elon.

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” said Gainey, 32. “Everything lined up right, and I’m excited to be at Elon.”

It wasn’t easy to leave State after spending more than a decade there, first as a shy recruit from Greensboro Day School in 1996 and then after returning to the school six years ago.

Gainey and his wife, Courtney, were settled in Raleigh with their sons, 6-year-old Jordan and 2-year-old Jayson. They weren’t looking to move.

“It was very tough,” Gainey said. “I’ve got a lot of friends at State, and I’m still driving from Raleigh to Elon every day. But (Wolfpack head coach Sidney) Lowe and his staff gave me their blessings. They know my dream is to become a head coach and they encouraged me to take the job.”

Gainey knew Matheny, who was a long-time Davidson assistant, before joining his staff at Elon. Their acquaintance was nothing more than a few e-mails and polite conversation until a few weeks ago when Gainey arrived on campus for his job interview.

That relationship quickly changed.

“We hit it off,” Gainey said. “Elon’s campus is so nice and the people are so friendly. I knew it was the place for me.”

Added Matheny, who succeeded Ernie Nestor in March: “Justin brings invaluable experience both as a player and a coach in this area. His number one quality, however, is that he is a person of high character who will represent Elon with an incredible degree of integrity.”

Gainey and Elon’s other new assistant, Tim Sweeney, have spent plenty of time recruiting to improve a Phoenix team that finished 11-20 last season. Elon can give two more scholarships to graduating high school seniors, but the assistants also are spending time on prep players from the classes of 2010 and 2011.

Gainey is the point man for in-state recruiting, since he played two seasons at Andrews, three years at Greensboro Day and still knows plenty of high school and AAU coaches in North Carolina.

“That’s the target, the emphasis,” Gainey said about recruiting the state. “It’s been fun. It’s been a long time coming because my job at State had a lot of restrictions. It’s great to be able to develop relationships with coaches and players.”

While playing for the Wolfpack, Gainey gained plenty of attention during the 1997 ACC tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. As a freshman on a State team seeded eighth, he helped the Wolfpack win three games and reach the tournament final.

In the process, Gainey set an ACC tournament record that may never be broken — playing every minute of all four games for a total of 160 minutes.

Current high school players don’t remember Gainey’s historic tournament run, but most coaches and parents still do. Lessons gained from such playing experiences should serve Gainey well at Elon.

“It makes me feel a little old, but I’ll get through that,” said Gainey, whose parents (Napolean, Marian) and brother (Jidal) still live in High Point. “Going from playing to coaching seems like a natural progression for me now.”