K-State point guard Carlbe Ervin learns to love his role with Wildcats

Carlbe Ervin is Bruce Weber’s favorite type of role player.

Weber, the Kansas State men’s basketball coach, has a story that explains why.

At a preseason meeting, Weber asked Ervin a series of questions that not all senior point guards would respond positively to. Are you willing to come off the bench? Are you willing to put the team above yourself? Are you willing to do unheralded dirty work that helps your teammates score?

Ervin had the same response to each question: “I just want to win.”

He backed up those comments with an unselfish effort in K-State’s last game, an 81-68 win over Nebraska-Omaha, by totaling four points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Ervin rarely looked to shoot, but he impacted the game in so many other ways that Weber praised him as the team’s player of the game.

“That is the key to any team, figuring out roles, accepting them and really taking pride in them,” Weber said. “Carlbe played with a lot of pride (last game). He played to win and he did all the things that make a difference in the game.

“That was good for him to let loose. I don’t know that he will have a game like this all the time, but it makes you feel much more comfortable. It gives you versatility and depth.”

Ervin hopes to build off his breakthrough game as K-State face Hampton on Sunday. He was a quiet contributor as a junior while he battled injuries. Now that he is healthy and understands Weber’s system, he wants to help in as many ways as he possibly can, even if his contributions don’t lead to individual glory.

That’s not the easiest attitude for a basketball player to embrace, but Ervin seems content to be the best bench contributor he can be.

“I am a senior now, and I think a lot of young people look up to me, because I know what is going on,” Ervin said. “I kind of help everybody. I just want to do everything that coach asks us to do and help my teammates realize that what they are preaching is obviously the right way so we can win.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "K-State point guard Carlbe Ervin learns to love his role with Wildcats."