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UP's "Mission Unaccomplished" article gives insight into Jarvis dysfunctional relationship with ex-players

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It's unfortunately not available online yet but the March 11th UP is entitled "Game Over" with Jarvis' head on the cover.

The "Missions Unaccomplished" article gives a pretty scathing account of what went on over these last few years by talking to a number of ex-players who claim that, among other things, they "created petitions to remove Jarvis from his head coaching position on two separate occasions during the 2010-2011 season." Wow.

Highlights from the article, which I encourage you to red once it becomes available online. Take it FWIW:


- Nick Gagel: "I left because of Jarvis, would like to leave it at that."

- DeMonte Simpson: "I was told at the end of the year meeting after my freshman year that if I got down to 240 I would not only play, but start. I met the requirements" "only to see his playing time dwindle during his sophomore season." He transferred and now warns incoming freshman about Jarvis. He actually says both "Mike Jarvis I and II were the reason people left." Talks highly of Coach Kaine and Coach Gash and infers that Coach McCall left because he didn't want to kiss Jarvis' ass.

- Devonte Thornton, "now one of the top junior college scorers in the country", "left during the year because of a family issue but" "I would have stayed if [Jarvis] wasn't there, honestly."

- Anonymous player: "Athletes are leaving after just nine months of enrollment because of betrayal, dishonesty, cowardice, disrespect towards players and coaches, degradation and abuse of power."

- Anonymous player (same one?) "My experience at FAU... almost ended my passion to play basketball."

- Ray Taylor: "I actually wanted to transfer my sophomore year. My mother convinced me to stick it out." "After the loss to Arkansas State" in the SBC Tournament during his junior year, a "crying, distraught Taylor called his mother to see if he was violating NCAA regulations by missing the team flight... Taylor paid for his own flight back to Boca Raton." Jarvis had sat him nearly the entire second half "just to embarrass me." He then goes on to talk about how the team "went as I went", how he entered the NBA draft to get Jarvis to release him to transfer, and "Nobody enjoys playing for you, he told Jarvis in front of every teammate and coach." Claims "Jarvis had coaches afraid... one coach told me that they had to suggest ideas to Jarvis by manipulating him. Making him think Jarvis had the idea." He wonders "what I could have done if I had a coach who had cared about his kids" and notes that he now talks to his FIU coaches about life all the time, something he couldn't do at FAU.

- Regarding the firing, "Jarvis and Chun had come to an agreement that Jarvis would step down at the end of the year. Jarvis only consented to that because he wanted to avoid being fired again."


Again, this all comes from the UP. I wish I could link the article. Will keep an eye out for it.
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Interesting they only talked to the players who have left the program.  Of course that is what they will say.  And from their perspective, I believe it. 

What the UP failed to do is interview some of the more prominent players who did not leave.  That would have changed the article but that wouldn't be very interesting.  I speak (on a regular basis) to several former players whom we all know and love.  one came in to talk to me when this article came out and said, "they didn't ask me what I thought." He then went on to name several other prominent players who are around the area and did not get asked to comment.

Let's just say, there is a whole other perspective out there from other players...both past and present.
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fauowl said

Interesting they only talked to the players who have left the program.  Of course that is what they will say.  And from their perspective, I believe it. 

What the UP failed to do is interview some of the more prominent players who did not leave.  That would have changed the article but that wouldn't be very interesting.  I speak (on a regular basis) to several former players whom we all know and love.  one came in to talk to me when this article came out and said, "they didn't ask me what I thought." He then went on to name several other prominent players who are around the area and did not get asked to comment.

Let's just say, there is a whole other perspective out there from other players...both past and present.
Posted On: Mar 31st 2014, 2:50 AM #330437

You make a very good point.  If you are really trying to write an article investigating what happened and why, why wouldn't you get input from both sides of the story unless you had already made your decision and were just trying to back up your position.  I am not defending Jarvis, he needed to go but just like most of the written  junk that people refer to for information on their decisions they are written by someone just promoting their position.

There is very little actual journalism any longer and none at the UP.

GO OWLS!
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Very good point, fauowl.

dusky256fc said

There is very little actual journalism any longer and none at the UP.
Posted On: Mar 31st 2014, 9:50 AM #330439

Agree with you 95%. Every now and then they do a decent article.

Interestingly in the same box with the UP was an issue of "the Unethical Press", a parody? edition of the UP with a number of articles about things like "Chun on Bath Salts" and "Former SGA President shooting owls in his spare time." Obviously false, each article was followed by a box listing the cardinal sins of journalism that the article broke like talking to numerous sources to get the full story.
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