Imagine for a minute that you are taking your daily sight-seeing stroll around the Drill Field when you eyes lock on an attractive young coed. You take her out on a date, show her your car, your friends, your apartment. She likes what she sees and agrees to become your significant other.
You date for two years, and, even though there are the normal growing pains of a relationship, things are going well.
But then, all of a sudden, she becomes sullen and withdrawn.
She hates your friends and starts blaming you and them for all her problems.
Soon your relationship is in a downward spiral, and with each day that passes there seems to be more name-calling and bad blood.
So you end it. You move on.
You think you are totally over her.
Then she starts dating your worst enemy …
As Valentine’s Day descends on America once again, like a choking cloud of fevered emotion, no relationship has had more ups and downs than the one between Arkansas point guard Gary Ervin and the Mississippi State basketball program.
Ervin, a New York native, came to Mississippi State three years ago as one of the highest-ranked high school talents in the nation.
His speed and ball-handling ability had him high on everyone’s recruiting list, but he eventually chose Rick Stansbury’s Bulldog program as the place he wanted to make his mark.
Bulldog Nation could not have been more excited. Ervin served in a reserve role on the 2004 Road Warriors team and then started 33 of 34 games for the Bulldogs in his sophomore campaign.
He averaged 7.4 points and 4.7 assists in 2005.
But as his sophomore season wound down, Ervin became discontented with Stansbury and the role he was being given in the Bulldog offense.
Several of his teammates, including All-American forward Lawrence Roberts, tried to explain that things would get better with time, but Ervin remained sullen and abrasive.
His attitude permeated through the rest of the team, and the Bulldogs – lacking the chemistry of previous squads – were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament by Duke.
At the end of the 2005 season Stansbury made the tough decision to dismiss Ervin from the program.
Losing Ervin meant losing his most experienced contributor on a team that was already losing six seniors, but given Ervin’s attitude, Stansbury had to let him go.
Ervin signed with Stan Heath’s Arkansas team – an MSU rival – a couple of months later.
After sitting out for a season as mandated by the NCAA for transfers, Ervin will play in his first game against the Bulldogs tomorrow night when the Razorbacks visit the Humphrey Coliseum.
He is averaging 9.6 points and 5.3 assists this season with his new team.
Expect Bulldog fans and players alike to be ready for Ervin and the Hogs.
While there may have been for meaningful games for this team this season, rest assured none will be more personal.
The matchup is intensified even more since both teams are still in the hunt for SEC West title.
In a perfect world, Ervin would be a Bulldog, there’d be a lot more wins for the MSU program over the last two rebuilding seasons and a 2005 National Championship banner would hang from the rafters at the Hump.
But then again, those kinds of relationships usually only happen in the movies.
R.J. Morgan is the sports editor of The Reflector. He can be contacted at [email protected].