Mike Jarvis is entering his 24th season as a Division I men's basketball head coach and his fifth as coach of the Florida Atlantic University Owls. Jarvis' long record of suceess places him among the nation's elite basketball coaches . He has taken three universities, Boston University (1985-90), George Washington University (1990-98) and St. John's University (1998-04) to the Big Dance.
Whether winning state titles during his high school coaching days in Massachusetts or taking St. John's to within three points of the Final Four in 1999, Jarvis has consistently delivered postseason tournament appearances, league titles and championships wherever he has been.
The New England native was a standout high school athlete at Rindge Technical High School in Cambridge, Mass. After graduating from Northeastern University in 1968 where he played both basketball and baseball, Jarvis went back to his alma mater to teach physical education while also serving as an assistant basketball coach at Northeastern from 1968-73, where he coached under Jim Calhoun in 1972-73.
Jarvis' assistant coaching career continued at Harvard University from 1973-77, learning from legendary Boston Celtics' great and then-Harvard head coach Tom Sanders, who was fresh off an eight-time NBA championship playing career with the Celtics from 1960-73. Jarvis credits mentors such as Sanders, whose No. 16 jersey is retired by the Celtics, Calhoun, Hall of Famer Red Auerbach and Jarvis' coach at Northeastern, Dick Dukeshire, the Greek national team coach in 1979, for prepping him for a head coaching career that would begin at his high school alma mater in 1978.
At Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) -- formally named Rindge Technical High School -- Jarvis flourished as a young head coach, guiding the city's lone public high school to three-consecutive state titles (1979, `80 and `81), while compiling a near-perfect 77-1 record during that span. Jarvis' prep players at CRLS included Patrick Ewing, Rumeal Robinson and former George Washington head coach Karl Hobbs. Coach Jarvis' accomplishments at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School would earn him a place in three Hall of Fames. Cambridge, Massachusetts High School Coaches, and New England Coaches.
Jarvis remained at CRLS until Boston University (BU) offered him the opportunity to begin a collegiate head coaching career in 1985. Immediate success ensued when Jarvis guided the Terriers to a 21-10 record and a berth into the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in his first season. He won two ECAC North Atlantic Conference Championships (1988 and '90) and made three postseason tournament appearances at BU. Jarvis surpassed Rick Pitino as the program's all-time winning coach (101-51 record) and led the Terriers to the NCAA Tournament twice (1988 and `90). Prior to his arrival, the Terriers had gone to the "Big Dance" just two times in its 26-year history.
In 1990, Jarvis accepted his first coaching position outside the state of Massachusetts, taking over at George Washington University (GW) in Washington D.C. Jarvis immediately transformed GW into one of the nation' best teams, finishing 19-12 in his first season (1990-91) and earning an invitation into the NIT. Making his initial accomplishments at GW even more impressive was the fact that the Colonials were just one year removed from a 1-27 campaign in 1988-89. In his third season at GW, Jarvis led the Colonials to its first 21-win season in 38 years. That 1992-93 team qualified for the first of four NCAA Tournament appearances during Jarvis' tenure at GW and went on to advance into the tournament's Sweet 16. It was also the first year that Mike Jarvis Sr and Jr. Would coach together. In fact it was the first time an African American father and son would coach together in Division I. An 18-12 season and return trip to the NCAA in 1993-94 firmly positioned GW among the nation's top college programs.
During the summer of 1993 Coach Jarvis led the United States 22 and under team to the world championship in Spain. Jarvis compiled a 152-90 record in eight consecutive winning seasons at GW, leading the Colonials to seven postseason tournament appearances and three 20-win seasons. During a record-setting final year in 1997-98, the Colonials would achieve a university-best national ranking of No. 17 by the Associated Press. Jarvis' knack for recruiting and developing national and international talent at GW resulted in 11 players scoring more than 1,000 points during their careers. He became just the second men's basketball coach in the program's history to be elected to the George Washington University Athletic Hall of Fame.
After outstanding tenures at BU and GW, the 13-year coaching veteran accepted the challenge of coaching a storied St. John's University program in Queens, New York that had enjoyed just one winning season in the five years prior to his appointment. That same season, Jarvis was elected president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Again success was immediate as Jarvis led the Red Storm to a 28-9 record in his first season at St. John's and his first appearance in an NCAA Regional Final - just one basket away from the Final Four.HIs coaching efforts were rewarded when the Black Coaches Association(BCA) presented him with the National Coach of the Year Award.
Following his experience at St. John's, Mike and Connie Jarvis moved to Boca Raton and embarked on a new career as a basketball analyst for ESPN television and writer for Yahoo Sports.com. During this time he also worked as a motivational speaker,promoted his book. 'Skills for Life' , launched an Internet broadcast service, `Jarvis TV,' that enabled colleges and community organizations -- such as churches -- to stream live events and programming over the Internet, and wrote his first spiritual tract entitled "Everybody Needs a Coach".
FAU has offered Jarvis his fourth collegiate head coaching stop. Like Jarvis' rapid climb among the collegiate coaching ranks, FAU has made a rapid ascent from the program's first season in 1988-89. After just five years, FAU made the transition into Division I. One of just eight active coaches to have won 100-plus games at three different schools, Jarvis hopes to join Lefty Driesell as one of just two to have done so with four.
After one season as an Independent in 1994-95, its first at the Division I level, the Owls competed as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference from 1995-2006. FAU won the league title in 2002 and qualified for the University's first NCAA Tournament appearance that same season. FAU moved into the Sun Belt Conference in 2006-07, a league that sent two teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2008, including one that advanced to the Sweet 16.
Despite not taking over the FAU program until May 2008, Jarvis was able to sign a four-player class that included Shavar Richardson, who led all Sun Belt freshmen in scoring and Alex Tucker, who set school records for assists in a game and a season. For his second season, Jarvis signed a seven-player class that included Raymond Taylor, who broke Tucker's school record for assists in a season and Greg Gantt, who was among the league leaders in scoring and three-point percentage. Both players were named Third-Team All-Sun Belt at the season's end.
In his third season at FAU, Jarvis continued his remarkable turnaround of the program. FAU garnered national attention with a 61-59 win over Mississippi State, the first win over an SEC team in school history and followed that up with a 50-42 win over USF of the Big East. Prior to the season, FAU had just three wins over teams from the "Big Six" conferences in its history, Jarvis led the team to two such victories in less than a week. Over the course of the season, the Owls had their best conference start in school history (8-0), and tied the school record for the longest winning streak (eight). The Owls had their most wins in a season at the Division I level (21). On February 3, 2011, Jarvis picked up his 400th career win with a 72-55 triumph over North Texas. The Owls also won the Sun Belt regular season title and appeared in the postseason NIT, just the second time in school history that the team made a postseason appearance. For his efforts, Jarvis won the Sun Belt and NABC District 24 Coach of the Year Awards and was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, given to the best minority coach in the nation.
During the 2011-12 season, the Owls had the highest home average attendance in program history, including two sellouts (vs. George Mason and FIU). There were also several notable individual accomplishments during the season as Greg Gantt, Raymond Taylor and Shavar Richardson became the newest members of FAU's 1,000 point club. Additionally, Alex Tucker became FAU's all-time leader in career assists.
Entering the 2012-13 season, Jarvis is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of officially adding his son, Mike II to his coaching staff. The duo were featured on the cover of Time-Out Magazine, the official NABC magazine, as part of a story on father-son coaching duos.
Jarvis and his wife, Connie live in Boca Raton and have two adult children, Mike II, his Associate Head Coach, and his daughter Dana Shaiyen, along with three grandchildren, Geoffrey, Ian and Delaney.
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