Search Jermaine Haley's name on Google and what comes up is not what you would expect.
 
It reads: Jermaine Leroy Haley is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Butte College.
 
What?
 
That's Jermaine Haley all right – Jermaine Haley Sr., Jermaine's father.
 
"Everybody has been giving me hell about that for like the last two months," the younger Haley laughed.
 
"We are basically the same person," he said. "He's basically taught me everything that I know. He's always been around me through my entire life in sports whether it was football or basketball. When I decided to play basketball, he really didn't like that much, but he's still a big basketball fan."
 
Jermaine learned at a young age that hard work is the secret to success.
 
"Growing up and seeing him leave the house at five in the morning and coming back at nine o'clock at night working all day … so I'm just trying to follow in his footsteps to try and get to the places that he's gotten in life," he said.
 
Jermaine's path to Power 5 college basketball has been long and winding.
 
Because his father played for so many different teams in the NFL and the Canadian Football League, Jermaine has always kept his bags packed for the next move.
 
"With him playing, I've been moving since I was born, honestly," he said. "I think I've been to like 11 different schools, and I guess I'm good at adapting because I've always had to meet new people and always leave situations to go to new ones and adapt."
 
Haley attended Burnaby South High in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he was given a five-star rating by one recruiting service. That led to a scholarship offer from New Mexico State, but after one season there he decided to transfer to Odessa College to try and put himself into a position to play somewhere else.
 
That opportunity came when West Virginia offered him a scholarship two years ago, making it three different schools in three years for Haley.
 
"It hasn't been that hard," Haley said of his frequent moves. "I think that the path that I've had to take is a lot different than everybody else so I kind of have a unique story."
Haley admits he knew very little about West Virginia even though he once lived within driving distance of Morgantown when his father played for the Redskins.
 
"I didn't know much about the place until I got here, but when I got here I kind of had the same feeling," he said. "I've been thrown in the fire since I've got to school and when I get to places I feel like I can prove myself early, and I can find myself on the court early just because I have so many different attributes, and I can bring so many different things to the game."
 
Haley's attributes include the rare ability to play just about any position on the floor from point guard to power forward. At 6-feet-7 inches and 215 pounds, he's got enough size to play near the basket, and his unique ball handling and passing skills make him suitable to play the guard positions as well.
 
He says he was allowed to develop those guard skills when he played AAU basketball.
 
"I was always the taller kid, but they could see that I really love to pass so they gave me that option," Haley said. "They were like, 'We can take another point guard or you can play point guard for us.' I'm like, 'I want to play point guard' so it just started from there. 
 
"I've always had the ball in my hands. It's unique in that I can play so many positions on the floor, and that's why I feel like I can always find myself on the floor because they can put me at the one, two, three or four," he said.
 
After all of the moves he's made through the years, settling down in Almost Heaven has been heaven to Haley.
 
"I'm glad I found myself here. This has probably been the best experience of my life so far," he said. "The culture here and the fans have been such an amazing experience. It's something I thought would never happen in my life, and I'm just so glad that I got to come here and experience all of this."
 
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Sarah Ramundt and is presented each week by our great friends at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.