Last week, Florida Atlantic hired
Mike Jarvis to replace
Rex Walters as coach.
Jarvis was last on the coaching scene in 2003 at
St. John's, but he was fired in midseason after a series of incidents involving theteam's players. Other transgressions led to a two-year NCAA probation and some scholarship limitations.
Jarvis was 110-61 in five-plus seasons with the Red Storm, including three NCAA Tournament appearances. He has 364 career wins in 19 seasons as a headcoach.
FAU chose him over such candidates as Georgia Southern coach
Jeff Price and former St. Louis and
Wisconsin coach BradSoderberg.
Is Jarvis, 63, the right hire for FAU? That's the question we posed to
Andrew Skwara and
Bob McClellan for thisweek's Monday Tip debate.
SKWARA: YES
Jarvis lost complete control at his last job, there is no arguing that. During the course of his final year at St. John's, several of his players raninto problems with the law. What is worse is that a former player received payments from a staff member.
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Mike Jarvis was previously a head coach at St. John's, George Washington and Boston University. | |
Jarvis wasn't found guilty of supplying those payments, but it's tough to believe he wasn't involved in some way or had some knowledge of thesituation. His own director of operations admitted to making the payments, including some he took from a petty-cash fund in the men's basketballoffice.
Jarvis has paid dearly for those mistakes. He was fired from the best job he ever had. His reputation was trashed. He couldn't land a coaching job forfour years.
That's a severe punishment for a guy who was born to coach. Jarvis, who has a master's degree in education, is one of just four Division I coacheswho has won 100 games at three schools. He got his first head-coaching gig at Boston University, worked his way up to George Washington, then to St.John's, where he led the Red Storm to the Elite Eight in 1999.
Jarvis was at or near the top of his profession. Now, at the age of 63, Jarvis basically starts over. He's working in the mid-major ranks again, at aplace that will be on its third coach in four seasons.
What else can be done? Should no one hire Jarvis again? Even former Cal coach Todd Bozeman, who admits to giving thousands to a former player, was hired atMorgan State two years ago.
McCLELLAN: NO
Maybe FAU accomplished what it desired when it hired Jarvis, who clearly was the "name" coach among the men interviewed. If FAU had hiredSoderberg or Price, we wouldn't be debating the hire in this space right now.
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Mike Jarvis is the fourth FAU head coach in the past five years. | |
Jarvis' track record as a coach can't be debated. Does he also come with some red flags? My opinion is yes - red flags big enough they can be seenfrom outer space.
Under Jarvis' watch, St John's wound up on two years' probation and had scholarship reductions imposed. The school's investigation revealeda player was being paid by a member of Jarvis' staff. Jarvis was faulted for not properly monitoring the situation, but was otherwise cleared ofwrongdoing.
His monitoring skills left something to be desired. His players had several run-ins with the law, including charges of marijuana possession and assault.
It got so bad at St. John's that Jarvis became the first Big East coach ever to be fired in midseason, despite a mark of 110-61 at the school. What doesthat tell you?
Jarvis is FAU's fourth coach in five years.
MattDoherty bolted after one season for the
SMU job, and
Rex Walters stuck around for two before hightailing it to San Francisco (San Francisco?). Dothe Owls really believe a 63-year-old coach with a checkered past who hasn't been on the floor in nearly five years brings stability to the program? Or dothey just love coaching searches that much?
And in other news, Maryland and Gary are a desperate program, and I love it..
THIS WEEK: Tyree Evans is a talented basketball player with a checkered past. The former Rivals.com four-star shooting guard prospect played last season at Motlow State Community College in Lynchburg, Tenn., where he averaged 21 points for a team that went 28-5. Motlow is not a typical destination for highly recruited players. But Evans' run-ins with law enforcement have derailed his playing career. In 2005, he was charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He pleaded down to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to 12 months in jail, with all but one month suspended. In 2006, he pleaded down to another misdemeanor that stemmed from charges in connection with the statutory rape of a 15-year-old female classmate at a Massachusetts prep school in 2004. He also was arrested for trespassing in 2006 in his hometown of Richmond, Va. Despite all of those transgressions, Maryland had offered him a scholarship in April and he had accepted. But late last week Evans asked to be released from his letter of intent, and the school obliged. What do you think of the Evans situation?
MIKE HUGUENIN
You hear coaches at all levels talk about "character" and how important it is. Yeah, OK. This whole Evans situation once again brings home the one overriding theme in college sports today: It's all about winning.
Tyree Evans is a supremely talented basketball player. But when you look at the laundry list of problems he has encountered …
Maryland AD Debbie Yow reportedly expressed surprise when she found out Evans had signed with the Terps. Yikes. If that's truly the case, she and
Gary Williams - and
Ralph Friedgen and every other coach at the school - need to sit down and discuss the school's recruiting parameters.
You can argue until you're blue in the face that Evans has turned his life around and deserves a chance to play at Maryland. I'll argue until I'm blue in the face that a school such as Maryland doesn't need to take this kind of risk, that there are enough players out there without all that baggage. The bottom line: Premier state universities don't need to be some kind of way station for troubled athletes.
What I find especially telling is what his junior college coach told reporters: "It's not like he's going to have trouble finding another place." Again, it all goes back to that one overriding theme.
JASON KING
If
Gary Williams is sincere and is truly committed to helping Tyree Evans become a better person, then there's nothing wrong with the Terrapins signing the troubled guard.
Colleges take pride in helping mold students into mature, responsible adults, and no one needs guidance more than Evans. Refusing to admit Evans could lead to more problems for him in the future - especially if he were out on his own. But the chance to be around coaches and teammates that care about him could alter his outlook on life and give him something to take pride in. Within a year or two he could be a changed man.
BOB McCLELLAN
When
Bob Huggins doesn't believe he can get you into school, you're a player with a seriously tarnished reputation.
Huggins received a commitment from Evans while he was in high school and the coach was at
Cincinnati. Then came the charges in connection with the statutory rape, and the Bearcats backed off.
A lot of people raised an eyebrow when Maryland offered Evans. The athletic administration simply was asleep at the wheel on this one. No way the Terps should have allowed Gary Williams and his staff to extend the offer. Evans has more baggage than the lost and found at O'Hare.
Some school is going to step in and grab him. His former Motlow coach, Bobby Steinburg, told
The Sun of Baltimore in the wake of Evans opting out at Maryland, "It's not like he's going to have trouble finding another place."
Indeed,
Arizona,
Florida State and
Kansas State were at the ready when Evans chose Maryland. But he might be too hot for a high-profile Division I team to bring on board.
If Evans is intent on playing Division I basketball, I'm of the opinion he should attempt it a little more under the radar, kind of like he did at Motlow, hardly a traditional junior-college power.
ANDREW SKWARA
Most kids don't deserve the amount of chances Evans has received. But Evans isn't most kids.
Evans grew up without a father. His older brother is a convicted drug dealer. His mother admits to hanging out with drug dealers. He lived in a rough area, surrounded by crime and all the wrong types of people and influences.
Place any kid in that kind of background and chances are they will run into problems. It doesn't excuse the rap sheet that Evans has put together, but it makes it more understandable.
That's why I'm disappointed to hear that Maryland is giving up on Evans. He appeared to be on his way to turning things around. Outside of a scuffle with a teammate, he steered clear of any trouble last season.
I'm hoping another school steps up and gives him another chance. Basketball is a way out for Evans. Take that option away and I'm afraid how his story will end.