NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

#20 Joe Ervin

Redshirt Sophomore | 5-8 | 178 lbs. | Rock Hill, South Carolina

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Running Back
• Previous College: None
• Projection: Third-String
• Status: On Scholarship

Ja’Derrion Ke’Vontre “Joe” Ervin (b. Dec. 24, 2000) is an exciting young running back from South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, who opted out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season due to health concerns, but now has returned to the team in 2021.

Ervin, who continues K-State’s Southern recruiting pipeline in the post-Andre Coleman era, played in four games in 2019 as a true freshman and preserved his redshirt for the season.

He rushed 23 times for 95 yards that season, and set season highs in rushes (10) and yards (46) at Kansas, while he scored his first career touchdown against Bowling Green.

After a season spent staying in shape at home, Ervin is back and ready to spell Deuce Vaughn (who took advantage of his absence in 2020) occasionally as the “lightning” part of K-State’s projected four-man “thunder and lightning” running back corps.

He is majoring in sociology and can “get back” his 2020 season under the new pandemic eligibility rule, which was created specifically for guys just like him who wanted to sit out.

Ervin prepped under head coach Strait Herron at South Pointe, where he was rated the 56th-best running back in the Class of 2019 by ESPN and was named to the USA TODAY Sports/American Family Insurance All-USA South Carolina team.

He earned all-state honors from High School Sports Report and was a two-time all-region pick after rushing for 3,384 yards during his career, breaking the school record of current New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore.

Ervin had 1,964 yards and 23 touchdowns for the Stallions as a senior, topping 200 rushing yards in each of his final five games of the year, and also caught 41 passes for 316 yards and a score during his prep career.

He helped South Pointe to earn a perfect 15-0 record and a state championship as a junior.

Ervin, who was selected to play in the 2018 South Carolina North/South All-Star Game, was the first prep player out of the state of South Carolina to sign with the Wildcats since at least 1998. Coleman was his primary recruiter.

Ervin chose K-State over offers from Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Seton Hall and Wofford, as well as interest from powerhouse Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami (Ohio), North Carolina, Old Dominion, Penn State and home-state school South Carolina.