He never plays basketball now. All that jumping and pivoting was just too severe on the joints. He has thrown in his lot with Gaelic football which, in winter anyway, offers more forgiving ground than does a hardwood court.

For many years, Galway's Kevin Walsh seemed to be one of those athletes whose career revolved around injury. In the county's recent win over Mayo in Castlebar, the heavy visiting support gasped in temporary disbelief as Walsh hobbled pitifully for a few minutes after contesting a ball.

"I just got a knee into my leg then, it was just dead. I was able to run it off, thankfully," he recalled this week. His name has been floating around the Galway set-up for so long that it is disconcerting to hear he is only 28.

Sports offered nothing but dizzying possibilities in his teenage years. Although he had witnessed the Galway seniors crumble against Dublin in a miserable final in 1983, he wore the maroon in Croke Park just three years later, a languid force of raw athleticism, nailing two points as Galway minors defeated Cork. He was ushered into senior ranks virtually as soon as his minor tenure had finished. The Killanin lad kicked sparkling ball during a glum era for Galway football and subsequent injuries, a share of ill-luck and several indifferent performances by the team looked to be the definitive inventory of what was panning out to be a frustrating career.

"Well, from 1987 to 1995 we had some problems in this county, maybe because of emigration. But, you know, we have lost a few Connacht finals in that time and maybe we just didn't get the rub of the green."

Ironically, when Galway did again emerge from Connacht, in 1995, Walsh was beset by immediate problems. A groin injury he sustained in 1992 simply refused to depart and he was also suffering from an increasingly debilitating knee weakness, which occasionally threatened to end his sporting life.

"I did manage to play in the AllIreland semi-final that year against Tyrone. I suppose looking back, we had the chance to take them . . .

we lost by three points and I don't know how many wides we kicked. But that was a young team."

He was 25 then and ought to have been peaking but instead was perceived as something of a luxury; a great contender with iffy knees. Unlikely to last a full season.

But lately renewed hope has come. Early in 1997, he had his knee operated on and came back that summer to kick with Kilanin. Corofin, the eventual All-Ireland club champions, ended their run in the county semi-final.

"The club championship is very strong here, as Corofin's achievement reflects. I enjoyed it, got quite fit again and it was after that that John O'Mahoney asked me back into the panel."

After limiting his minutes initially, O'Mahoney subtly fashioned a side in which Walsh has become an integral member, an assured authority at midfield.

"We had put in a lot of really tough training and I suppose the whole build-up really was focused towards Mayo. That we were able to reply to two goals says something about the character this team has developed," he offers.

Like most Galway men, he gives his response to the notion of Galway as blazing favourites to subdue Leitrim at Carrick-on-Shannon this Sunday with a wry smile.

"I know we will be favourites and I certainly hope that won't make us relax any. I don't think it will. Leitrim have beaten us twice in recent championships and Carrick-on-Shannon will be a tight place to play in. We certainly are looking no further than that game. I can't see them wanting to give us much space, I think there will be a lot of breaking ball around the pitch."

That said, way back during the clammy gym sessions, the Galway team promised themselves that they should aim for premier league football and another Connacht championship. All the way back to 1983 is a long time for a traditional county to go without a September appearance in Dublin.

"'Tis a long time," agrees Walsh. "We have been incredibly well supported this year. I have never seen crowds like we had in Castlebar for the Mayo game. I suppose the good league run was the basis for that. I don't know, maybe they are expecting things of us this year."

Expectation rests easily on Kevin Walsh's solid 6' 3" frame. In simpler days, he bore it unfussily when hitting bankshots and hustling for rebounds in basketball gyms around Ireland and abroad for the national side. He took it in his stride as a highly vaunted minor football star. He is an athlete, after all, playing comes naturally. Nowadays, he is just grateful that he still can.