The sample size is still small as Furman University is just three games into the 2025-2026 Women’s Basketball season but Carroll County High School graduate Alyssa Ervin looks good wearing Purple.

After spending her freshman season at Elon University, the leading scorer in the 56 year history of CCHS is now playing basketball in the Southern Conference. Three games in, the now 5’11 guard is averaging 12.0 points per game and is earning increased minutes on the court for Curtis, now in his third season at the helm of the program.

Curtis played his basketball at James Madison University and has a vision of what he wants his Furman program to look like. Scheduling in the non-conference is a key part of that and it shows this year as the Paladins just played back to back road games at Southeastern Conference schools in Georgia and Vanderbilt.

Hearing the SEC announcers say repeatedly that Curtis sees Ervin as his ” Best Scorer ” was reason to smile for everyone in the corner of the former Lady 👩 Cavalier that led her team to consecutive State Championships.

Vanderbilt entered the game on Monday night as the #19 team in the Country and fresh off a season opening trip to Paris, France 🇫🇷 where they took care of business against a talented Cal – Berkeley team. The winner of the game wasn’t going to be in question but Curtis was looking to see which of his 11 freshman and sophomores could stand up to the bright lights on the biggest stage of the season.

Ervin scored 16 points in her 25 minutes of playing time and sprinkled in two rebounds, one assist and one block against the Commodores. The Sophomore finished four of nine from deep and six of 15 overall to lead the team in scoring in the 96-48 setback.

One of the most impressive things about the journey from The Hill to North Carolina and then South Carolina is the commitment to Academics along the way. Even after entering the transfer portal at Elon, Ervin continued to shine in the classroom and finished the second semester being honored by the School for her efforts.

The winding path brings back memories of the one taken by the young woman who helped Carroll County High School its initial State Championship. Sydney Nester began her career at North Carolina State University before transferring over to Marshall University. It was while pitching for the Thundering Herd that Nester flirted with leading the Country in strikeouts.

Ervin and her teammates will return to action 🎬 on Thursday night against Georgia State but there is a date coming up that residents may want to circle as Furman will play at nearby Radford University on Wednesday evening, November 19th. Not sure if Ervin will have another chance to play so close to Carroll County again as the Highlanders campus is just 43 miles from the Gymnasium where Ervin scored her 2 000+ points.

The long term significance of Ervin finds collegiate success directly ties to the future of the program. Erin Gibson, the holder of the scoring record went on to play at Virginia Tech University and that level of success gave younger players someone to look up to and try to emulate as they worked on their game.

Dell Curry still sits atop the scoring list up at Fort Defiance High School and JJ Redick is still the talk of the town over at Cave Spring. Just two examples of what success can do for a High School program, decades later.

There is no telling where the road that Ervin is on will lead her to but there’s plenty of room for people to climb aboard the band wagon and find out.

Furman is set to host their neighbors from Clemson on Sunday, November 23rd in yet another Power Four game.

Ashlyn Newman, a fellow member of the Fab Four group of Student Athletes that graduated in 2024 with individual School records recently celebrated her Senior Day at Bluefield College. Newman earned her two year degree from Wytheville Community College while still in High School and now less than two years later is set to graduate from Bluefield.