S.C. State overcomes adversity to challenge for title

A college coach has to massage egos, guide young people through an important time in their lives, balance athletics with academics and still figure out a way to win.

Try doing it when you know your gym might be shuttered and your athletes told to go home at any moment.

“I pinch myself that we’re even in this position,” S.C. State’s Murray Garvin said. “It has been a struggle.”

That’s putting it kindly.

Garvin’s first two teams won 20 combined games. He took over for the final eight games of the 2012-13 season after Tim Carter resigned following a 14-game losing streak (final record: 6-24). The program was improving, winning 11 games last year and seven in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, yet the Bulldogs came to practice every day for most of the past two years wondering if the financial peril S.C. State was facing would end their program.

Monetary stability has been found, and the whispers around the athletics program have ceased. Garvin’s Bulldogs have started to soar.

S.C. State checks into Saturday’s 4 p.m. game hosting Coppin State at 12-11 overall, but 7-2 and in second place in the MEAC. The Bulldogs are a game behind Hampton (who they beat) and have seven games remaining before the conference tournament, which sends the winner to the NCAA Tournament.

Murray took over in the throes of a 30-game MEAC losing streak. Three years later, his team could win the league.

“I remember when the stands were empty. Now people try to get here early to catch the girls’ game so they can get a good seat to see us play,” senior Daryll Palmer said. “People come and watch us practice now. But we’re not letting that get to us.”

Focus has always been the backbone of Garvin’s program. It had to be over the past two years. Garvin remembered the first time he heard the rumors of the program and the school being shut down; in the world’s worst case of great news/bad news, it was just after he received a four-year contract extension.

“I heard it two years ago, and then again about this time last year,” Garvin said. “Those were some touchy times.”

Men’s college basketball is an attrition-heavy sport anyway. Throw in ominous sounds of the school imploding, and Garvin was facing quite the dilemma.

“We were all a little scared,” graduate student Luka Radovic said. “There were people saying the school might get shut down, the basketball team would be shut down. We all knew it was possible. Even through all that, we were able to pull together and understand that all we can control was what’s going on on the court.”

Garvin and his staff were able to convince players that S.C. State would be OK and the Bulldogs were going to be a great basketball team. Columbia native Eric Eaves returned home from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College and is leading the team with 16.5 points per game, breaking 20 points in five of his past six games, while veterans such as Palmer and Radovic stuck around.

Now, the stands are full and smiles are rampant.

“In the cafeteria, in class, everybody’s excited for us,” Radovic said. “The last two years, I was wondering, ‘Did I make the right decision? Should I stay here?’ I didn’t believe in patience, but Coach helped me understand that. He told me to keep chopping wood.”

The Bulldogs are hoping their time in limbo will result in their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2003. It’s tough for Garvin to keep the team from discussing what might be — but it’s not as hard as it has been.

“We have eight guys that were around when there was talk about canceling the program, that have stayed here through all of that,” Garvin said. “They persevered and stuck by S.C. State.

“We’ve had more fan support and alumni support than we’ve had in several years. My athletics director (Paul Bryant) has been fabulous through the whole thing. He told me, ‘Coach, your program’s not going anywhere.’ ”

Except up.