BOCA RATON, Fla. — Mike Jarvis stood near the baseline, answering questions Wednesday about an upcoming trip to sixth-ranked Indiana while his Florida Atlantic University players shot around.
Staring Jarvis in the face was the FAU Arena scoreboard, still lit up with the previous night’s result:
Stetson 69, FAU 68.
Such is life for the Owls (5-6) in Year No. 5 under Jarvis. The desire to compete with the nation’s elite teams burns stronger than ever. In reality, that yearning remains a dream, though leaving the Sun Belt Conference to join Conference USA by 2014 is a step in the right direction.
“What we’re trying to do is lay the groundwork for a winning, successful basketball program,” Jarvis said. “Conference USA is going to be a step up, so we’re going to have to get a lot better. We’re going to have to get better players and get better with the players we have. “
Jarvis, 67, coached Patrick Ewing in high school at Cambridge, Mass. Jarvis then moved on to coach Boston University, George Washington and St. John’s — taking each to the NCAA Tournament — before arriving at FAU in 2008.
“I still love what I do, I still have a passion for this,” said Jarvis, who for the past 20 years has been assisted by son Mike II. “I would love to do it as long as I have a passion for it. I’d be awful in a retirement mode.”
FAU won the Sun Belt regular-season title in 2010-11, and was expected to contend for a repeat last season. Team dissension, however, contributed to a disappointing 11-19 mark. Afterward, guards Ray Taylor and Dennis Mavin transferred to Florida International University. “Our chemistry is getting better and better, and when we head into conference play, I think it’s just going to keep improving,” senior guard Greg Gantt said. “A game like this one against Indiana is a test for all of us and makes the players who aren’t really comfortable step up and do things that they normally don’t do.”
Playing against a major-conference team is not new for Jarvis’ Owls. They lost to Kansas (77-54) last season and to North Carolina (80-56) earlier this season. A future date with Duke is being discussed.
“Part of my fun is trying to, somewhat, figure out what we might try to do,” Jarvis said, “but you can only do so many different things with what you got.”
Against Stetson, Jarvis had to cope without second-leading scorer Stefan Moody and fellow freshman guard Cavon Baker, who were suspended three games for what a school spokesperson said the suspensions were a university decision. Published reports cited academics.
The presence of Moody and Baker, a key reserve, might have changed the outcome against Stetson of the Atlantic Sun Conference, but likely won't alter the expected result Friday night against the Hoosiers in Bloomington, Ind.
And if some people think FAU could take something from Butler’s upset of Indiana on Saturday, they need to think again.
“Butler is a major program in mid-major clothing,” Jarvis said. “Butler has been to the Final Four, probably should have won one. They have tough, tough kids who believe all the time. Our kids don’t believe all the time — once in a while they believe. We want to someday maybe get near what a Butler is over time.”
If nothing else, games against Top 25 teams help show that FAU needs to upgrade significantly in talent and facilities to be successful in its new league. Even Jarvis has said FAU Arena would be “a great practice facility” in Conference USA.
After losing to Stetson on Tuesday night before a home crowd generously announced as 1,027, FAU will play before an expected rabid, sold-out crowd of 17,000-plus at Indiana.
“That’s what makes it much better because you love to prove people wrong,” Gantt said. “They expect us to come in and lay down and get beat by 40. We want to come in and shock them.”
Again, the desire to compete burns strongly. But the reality ...
