The Morning Dish – Saturday, December 20th
Jarvis No Longer King Of Queens: St. John’s said goodbye to head coach Mike Jarvis. According to Red Storm athletic director Dave Wegrzyn, there was no single event that led to the pink slip, but after a 2-4 start, with losses to struggling Hofstra and Fairfield, one does not need to be a forensic scientist to see why Jarvis was axed. Off-court scandals also pervaded the early St. Jon’s season. Guard Wille Shaw, the heir apparent to Marcus Hatten, got busted for marijuana possession and was kicked off the team last month. Associate head coach Kevin Clark will take over for Jarvis, who went 110-61 in just under six seasons with the Johnnies and had another year on his contract. Clark gets to debut as head coach, not against a local creampuff school, but rather against 7th-ranked Georgia Tech.
Here’s a look at the Jarvis Years at St. John’s, which included an NIT championship last season:
1998-99 28-9 NCAA Tournament Elite 8
1999-00 25-8 Lost to Gonzaga in Second Round, NCAA Tournament
2000-01 14-15 No postseason
2001-02 20-12 Lost to Wisconsin in First Round, NCAA Tournament
2002-03 21-13 Postseason NIT Champions, Defeated Georgetown
2003 2-4 Fired December 19
Bayled Out: Baylor Basketball got some good news for a change. Junior transfer Harvey Thomas has been cleared to play for the Bears after an NCAA investigation into his receiving extra benefits came up nil. Baylor’s compliance investigation committee sat Thomas for the first eight games of the year after allegations that he received an undisclosed extra benefit from ex-coach Dave Bliss’s staff. Thomas, a 6-8 forward from Fredericksburg, VA who played two years at Northeast Oklahoma A&M, got his first taste of D-I ball against BYU-Hawaii in the Hawaii Surf and Slam Tournament last night.
Well, At Least We’re Still Smart: So close, but the Crimson’s first win was just out of reach. Harvard dropped to 9-0, succumbing to in-town rival Northeastern, 61-58. A 17-6 run with two minutes left pulled the Crimson within one, but Northeastern’s Jose Juan Barea sank three key free throws in the final minute. The Huskies were led by Javorie Wilson’s 19 points, 11 of which came in the second half.
Green Machine: Swingman Devin Green poured in 33 of Hampton’s 79 points and the Pirates got by local rival William and Mary, 79-72. Green also had 10 rebounds in Hampton’s fourth win of the year. Guard Jeff Granger supported the cause with 14 points, including two free throws with 4:50 left to give his team the lead for good. As a team, the Pirates went 73 percent from the line, hitting on 22-of-30 chances. No other Pirate player scored in double figures. The Tribe got 27 points, seven boards from All-Colonial selection Adam Hess.
Vikings Pillage Portland:Portland State crushed Portland U., 74-55, in the second of their cross-town, cross-league contests. Antone Jarrell and Blake Walker each netted 20 for the Vikes, while the Pilots (or Automatic Pilots) were paced by Donald Wilson’s 13. In a December 6th game, it was Portland that notched the win, 60-53. No rubber match has been discussed as of yet.
Tonight’s Menu:
• It’s another hefty Saturday of college hoops with several ranked teams in the mix. Top-ranked Kentucky hopes to bring their A-game to Bloomington when they face Indiana, while No. 3 UConn wants to improve to 7-0 at home even though their game against Iona is being staged in Hartford. The most scintillating matchup, on paper anyway, pits 4th-ranked Duke against No. 12 Texas at Madison Square Garden. Keep an eye on Wake Forest and North Carolina – Nos. 2 and 15 respectively – when the two undefeateds clash in Chapel Hill. Tarheel coach Roy Williams will get his first helping of ACC action since shifting from Kansas to UNC. Ninth-ranked Stanford and No. 11 Gonzaga offer intrigue later in the day in the Pete Newell Challenge. Cal and No. 10 St. Joe’s square off in the second game of that package.
• Some holiday-time tournaments also paint the basketball landscape today. Purdue, Hoopville’s 17th-best team, hosts the Boilermaker Invitational, with Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne as their first opponent. Number 6 Kansas highlights the Wolf Pack Holiday Classic as the Jayhawks dance with UC Santa Barbara. Fourteenth-ranked Florida hopes to come off its two-game snide against West Virginia today. The Gator-Mountaineer game is the main event in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at American Airlines Arena. Temple and Miami are the early evening undercard.
