Mike
Jarvis:
St. John’s Basketball Coach
By
M.C. Cohen
Mike Jarvis believes in education. Just listen in on one of his
press conferences after a St. John’s basketball game. Win or lose,
Jarvis never fails to mention that a basketball arena is just
another type of classroom and that an educational experience just
took place.
“I’m
most proud of the fact that I’ve been coaching and teaching since
I graduated from college,” said Jarvis, who coached basketball
and taught at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School in Cambridge,
Mass. for 17 years. “When I was a high school coach, all of my
kids, with the exception of two, went on to higher education;
and of those two, one became a policeman and one a fireman and
we know how important they are today.”
“I’ve
always tried to create the proper balance and teach my kids. Or
at least attempt
to teach my kids the necessary skills for life,” he said.
Jarvis’ own life lessons began in Cambridge, Mass. where he was
born and raised. He attended Cambridge Rindge & Latin and
went on to play baseball and basketball at Northeastern University.
When he graduated from college in 1968, there were few openings
for African-American coaches on the collegiate level at
that time.
“First
of all, the main factor was that I wanted to stay involved in
the thing I really loved, and that was sports,” said Jarvis, who
went on to become the elected president of the National Association
of Basketball Coaches (NABC) at the conclusion of the 1997-98
season. “Once I thought I was going to be a player; then reality
struck and I realized I wouldn’t so I decided I was going to be
a coach. In those days, the only real opportunity an African-American
had was coaching high school, so I decided to go back to my high
school, where in order to coach, I would have to teach.”
And teach he did. At Cambridge Rindge & Latin he coached his
squad to three consecutive state titles (1981, 1980 and 1979)
while registering a 77-1 record during that time. It’s no wonder,
considering that his star player during those years was Patrick
Ewing. Jarvis went on to coach at Boston University and George
Washington University before landing the prestigious St. John’s
job in the summer of 1998. While with the “Johnies,” Jarvis has
led the team to an elite eight appearance in the 1999 NCAA tournament
and a Big East Tournament Championship in 2000. With all the success
that he has achieved, Jarvis, perhaps more than anyone, realizes
that young African-American coaches that want to follow in his
footsteps will not have it easy.
“My
biggest advice [to young African-American coaches] would be that
in order to be successful, there are certain skills for life that
you have to learn no matter what you do,” said Jarvis. “You have
to understand the world we live in, and the world we live in is
not run by African-Americans. So you have to learn, number one,
what game you’re playing, and then the strategies necessary to
play that game. And that means you have to learn those necessary
skills for life.”
For Jarvis and his St. John’s players these lessons are an everyday
reality. “He understands everyone’s situation,” said senior guard
Sharif Fordham. “He takes into account where a person is from.
He’s a well-rounded father figure.” #
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