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Devan Cambridge slams down a dunk during warmups before Auburn\u2019s game against South Carolina on March 5 in Neville Arena.
It doesn\u2019t have to be this way.
There are, certainly, Auburn people out there who were sick to their stomach on Thursday seeing the news that fan-favorite Devan Cambridge is transferring from the basketball team. There are others, certainly, with hurt even in their hearts.
Yes, it\u2019s just sports, just silly games, but Auburn likes to call itself a family, and so for Auburn people it should always be hard to feel like they\u2019ve lost a family member. Imagine how the kid feels: Saying goodbye is always bitter before it is bittersweet, and for the fans who felt the highest highs with Cambridge when he slammed down dunks in the arena, it\u2019s only natural that they want to feel empathy with him now as he packs away his dorm.
But it doesn\u2019t have to be this way: It doesn\u2019t have to be goodbye forever. It doesn\u2019t always have to be \u201cus vs. them,\u201d and in the changing world of college sports, there\u2019s no way it always can be.
Just because you\u2019re an Auburn fan doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t support Devan Cambridge.
Just because you\u2019re an Auburn fan doesn\u2019t mean you have to spit venom at Bo Nix.
The NCAA is different now with the one-time transfer rule implemented in 2021, and it was always different for the student-athlete compared to the student. Yes, most everyone who comes through Auburn sees Auburn as their forever school, their forever home, this certain thing in their heart that nothing really comes close to and that makes their favorite color actually be two colors. The fans want that for the athletes too, but as we know, the athletes have put in unimaginable work and made unimaginable sacrifices for the sake of their playing careers to get to this level, and they can\u2019t just throw all of that away to settle for less playing time or a bad fit when there are other pastures out there.
The duality of man: \u2018There is good and evil in everyone.\u2019
The reality of fan: \u2018My team is good and everyone else is evil.\u2019
It just can\u2019t always be that way. Every change in the wind can\u2019t create a permanent divorce. Fanhoods don\u2019t last that way: That fan you see talking trash on social media about every kid who leaves as soon as he isn\u2019t on his team \u2014 that fan won\u2019t be a fan for long and they won\u2019t get out of it what the good fans get. Their passion burns up or fizzles out after so many betrayals, so many turns, so often falling for everything and standing for nothing. Real relationships are built on substance.
I could list Cambridge\u2019s stat lines, but I won\u2019t: He jumped out the gym and dunked like a Globetrotter and he had a hilarious smile and that\u2019s why the Auburn fans who love him love him.
Is that going away because he\u2019s wearing a different color?
Yes, it\u2019s sad, for a fan who wanted to see Cambridge play again for Auburn and won\u2019t get to. Yes: brutal.
But through this crazy thing we call college sports there are ways to reach out to the individual, past the uniform, to find something more enriching, to reach out and touch.
Don\u2019t Auburn men and women \u201cbelieve in the human touch\u201d?
Try it. Wherever the kid goes next season, try tuning in. Keep following the kid on Instagram. If it isn\u2019t Cambridge, it could be the next one.
Maybe, one by one, Auburn can become the forever home you want it to be for everyone, even if they go when it\u2019s time to go.
It doesn\u2019t have to be the way it is.
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Devan Cambridge slams down a dunk during warmups before Auburn\u2019s game against South Carolina on March 5 in Neville Arena.
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