http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fl-mikeb-fau-mike-jarvis-basketball-20110304,0,5822465.column

BOCA RATON

Mike Jarvis isn't just trying to win basketball games here.

He's trying to wipe out the past, reshape the future, knock down barriers and get people to think differently (or think at all) when it comes to the Florida Atlantic Owls.

That's why this Sun Belt Conference tournament is so crucial to Jarvis, whose top-seeded team opens play Sunday night in Hot Springs, Ark.

Flop here, and the grand plan probably never comes to fruition, even with a school-record 21 wins already.

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Win here, though, and the Owls won't just be booking travel for their first dose of March Madness in nine years.

They just might seduce the sort of deep-pockets benefactor Jarvis has been searching for since he took this job three years ago.

"I'm hoping for that sugar daddy," Jarvis says, "because I think he could have a lot of fun with this team."

Don't get the wrong idea. Jarvis may have had his minor issues with the NCAA in the past, but he isn't asking anybody to buy better talent for him to coach.

He does have a wish list, though, of perfectly legal items any perennial winner must have — a team charter sits at the top — so he's constantly on the lookout for FAU's version of Phil Knight.

"This is a tough economy," Jarvis says. "We haven't found a guy that would be so much enamored and in love with our program — because it's not Duke or Kentucky or North Carolina — that's going to say, 'You know what, I'm going to go in my pocket for a couple hundred grand.' "

The best college basketball coach in South Florida shakes his head.

"That guy hasn't come about yet," he says. "I'm looking for him."

A dozen years ago, when he was building St. John's into an Elite Eight program, Jarvis held a celebrity dinner with Michael Jordan as the featured speaker. The event raised nearly $250,000, almost a third of which came from one item: the chance to sit on the team bench for a game at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Three guys bid 25 grand," Jarvis says. "We stopped the bidding and took all three."

Thankfully, no technicals were called against those awestruck boosters, and the Red Storm soon started traveling to road games by charter flight.

One year, Jarvis says, that meant the difference between making and missing the NCAA Tournament. That's how important it can be amid the college hoops whirlwind to travel on your terms.

Maybe you assume the Sun Belt is a little too humble for such luxury, but Western Kentucky travels by charter. So, occasionally, does Florida International, so the thought isn't outrageous.

Could be time to ring up MJ or maybe Patrick Ewing, whom Jarvis famously coached in high school, and have them swing by for a summer fundraiser.

Conveniently enough, FAU is trying to finalize a game at Cameron next season. Jarvis, whose son worked several seasons under Mike Krzyzewski, would love to auction off a spot on his bench once again.

"We won't get 25 grand, but you never know," he says. "Maybe we'll get 10 or 15."

Until then, El Owl must wait for a suitable sugar daddy.

[email protected]. Blog at sunsentinel.com/MikedUp.

Nice piece!

I was going to post this but good job dusky! Wow finally someone other than Ted is writing about us AFTER the season. Come on you retired boca people pony up the cash! Having our own jet could help with recruiting lmao!