In Jarvis’ six year tenure, FAU Basketball has seen five losing seasons — the one exception being the 2010-2011 season where the Owls went 21-11 and were awarded a bid to the National Invitation Tournament only to see the University of Miami beat them by 23 points. The NIT Tournament serves as a consolation prize for the teams who did not play well enough to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
The Owls are 10-19 this year and surrendered a 16 point lead to Tulane in a 72-64 loss on Feb. 26.
As recently as last week, Jarvis showed no signs of fear regarding his job.
“Here’s the deal. If you’re asking me if I’m worried about me – absolutely not,” he said after a blowout loss to Tulsa on Feb. 20 that dropped the team to 10-18 on the year. “Because of my faith… I don’t feel pressure, never have, and I don’t think I ever will.”
It was originally thought that Jarvis had been fired, but it is believed that after being presented with the inevitable firing, he chose to resign instead. Chun confirmed via conference call on Feb. 28 that, after some “big picture” discussion, he and Jarvis came to the conclusion that it would be beneficial for Jarvis to leave after this year. According to Chun, he no longer wanted to coach this team.
Mike Jarvis II (Jarvis’ son who currently holds the title of Associate Head Coach) will stay on the FAU coaching staff for the remainder of the season, but may end up leaving anyway once Chun selects a coach to take over for Jarvis long term. According to Chun, the new coach will have the option to clear out the incumbent staff and bring in his own.
In the past two offseasons, eight players have transferred to other locations, leaving FAU basketball stripped of the consistency and continuity that every mid-major program needs.
Chun claims that the resignation is a “selfless” move by Jarvis in that it gives him some time to search for a new coach. Chun mentioned that he will contact Ohio State head basketball coach Thad Matta as he begins searching for a new coach. (Ohio State is Chun’s alma mater. He worked in the OSU athletics department for 15 years before taking the job as FAU athletic director).
FAU (Jarvis in particular) committed a secondary NCAA violation by having former Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine act as an assistant coach in some team practices earlier this season, according to Chun. Fine left Syracuse in 2012 amid sexual abuse allegations that spanned a myriad of years. Several of the people who accused Fine of the disgusting acts recanted, and the federal investigation he underwent was eventually dropped.
The violation was self reported and, according to Chun, did not have any bearing on the Jarvis ordeal. Before entering the conference tournament, FAU finishes the regular season with two home games: Southern Mississippi and Florida International.
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