Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Mike Jarvis Era Officially Begins Friday Night
11/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2008
MONMOUTH (0-0) @ FLORIDA ATLANTIC (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 - The FAU Arena (5,000)
Boca Raton, Florida - 7:00 p.m. ET
GAME #1: The Mike Jarvis era officially begins at Florida Atlantic Friday November 14, when his Owls play Northeast Athletic Conference (NEC) member Monmouth University, in the season-opener for both schools. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET at the FAU Arena, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton Campus. The first 500 FAU students in attendance will receive a free t-shirt. For tickets and more information call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
THE SERIES: Last season FAU defeated Monmouth 62-57 on December 23, 2007 in the only previous meeting between the two schools. Carlos Monroe went 7-for-17 from the field and finished with 20 points on the Hawks home floor in Long Branch, N.J. to lead FAU. The loss dropped Monmouth to 2-9 at the time.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: All of FAU's regular season games (home and away) will air live on commercial radio WFTL - 640 AM with additional audio links available via FAUSPORTS.com. Mark Morgan (play-by-play) will call the action Friday night. Live play-by-play scoring via GAMETRACKER will be accessible on FAU's official athletics website (FAUSPORTS.com). Monmouth will be broadcasting via live radio in New Jersey on WMCX 88.9 FM. Sean Layton (play-by-play) and Pete Mulroy (analysis) will call the game for WMCX.
SPECIAL RECEPTION NOTICE: Guests of President Frank T. Brogan '81, including Foundation Board, Alumni Board, Board of Trustees and Owl Club members, are invited to a special reception in the FAU Arena's brand new skyboxes. The reception will take place on Friday, November 14th when the Owls tip-off their regular season against the Monmouth Hawks. The reception begins at 6:30 with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
Mike Jarvis enters his first season as FAU head coach.
The Owls return three senior starters, including projected Sun Belt "Player of the Year" Carlos Monroe.
The Owls posted wins over a pair of Division II teams, Lynn (63-79) and Rollins (61-56) in their two exhibition contests.
The Owls drew 1,212 fans to its exhibition opener against Lynn, more fans than any regular season game last year.
Friday's game with Monmouth marks FAU's first season-opening home game since 2000-01.
FAU is 32-7 when playing at home spanning the past three seasons.
FAU has lost five-straight season openers, losing at Rhode Island (90-63) last season and at Oklahoma State (95-50) in 2006-07.
The Owls are picked to finish fourth in the SBC East Division, behind South Alabama, Western Kentucky and preseason league favorite Middle Tennessee St.
FAU returns 80 percent of its offense production and 69 percent of its rebounding output from a season ago.
FAU returns 6 letterwinners, including three starters, from last year's team that went 15-18 and earned a No. 7 seed in the Sun Belt tournament under two-year head coach Rex Walters, who left to take the head coaching job at the University of San Francisco during the offseason.
FAU boasts two senior starters in the backcourt, Paul Graham III (14.0+ points per game in each of the past two seasons) and Carderro Nwoji (122 assists in 2007-08).
Following Friday's opener, FAU will make its first-ever appearance in the NIT Season Tip-Off, beginning with a pair of games at the McKale Center in Tucson, AZ (vs. Arizona 11/17 and vs. UAB or Santa Clara 11/18)
PROBABLE STARTERS: (based on last game)
PG - #12 Carderro Nwoji (6-0, 175, Sr., Wichita, KS)
Sun Belt's returning leader in assists
G - #25 Paul Graham III (6-5, 190, Sr., Philadelphia, PA)
Has averaged 14+ points per game for two-straight seasons
G - #24 Xavier Perkins (6-4, 225, So., Delray Beach, FL)
Averaged 15 points per game in FAU's two exhibition games
F - #32 Carlos Monroe (6-8, 245, Sr., Philadelphia, PA)
Only FAU player to have 600+ rebounds and 1,000+ points
C - #40 Brett Royster (6-8, 220, So., Arlington, TX)
Set FAU's freshman record for blocks (41) last season
FLORIDA ATLANTIC: First-year FAU head coach Mike Jarvis directs a squad that has three senior starters. All-America forward Carlos Monroe, a 6-foot-8 senior from Philadelphia, scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds in a recent exhibition victory over Lynn. Monroe had 13 double-doubles last season and 24 for his career, which is just one shy of an FAU school record. Monroe is the projected Sun Belt "Player of the Year" by a number of college basketball publications. Senior point guard Carderro Nwoji and senior off guard Paul Graham III both averaged double figures in scoring last season. The pair combined to score 33 in FAU's final exhibition tune-up against Rollins College on Monday.
MONMOUTH: Monmouth University, a member of the Northeast Athletic Conference (NEC) scored 58 points in its only exhibition game, an eleven-point win over William Patterson on the Hawks' home floor. Monmouth was 7-24 last season, 4-14 in the NEC. FAU defeated Monmouth 62-57 last year in West Long Branch, N.J. In its exhibition victory the Hawks received an 18-point effort from senior team captain Whitney Coleman. Monmouth's Dave Calloway, who has spent 22 years of his life with the program, is in his 12th season as head coach.
NEXT UP: Florida Atlantic is guaranteed four games in the 2008 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament. Two days after FAU's season-opener with Monmouth, the Owls travel to Tucson to play the University of Arizona Monday at 11 p.m. ET. It will be the Wildcat's season-opener. The NIT bracket pits FAU against either UAB or Santa Clara in round two. The winner of the four-team bracket in Tucson moves onto New York's Madison Square Garden over the Thanksgiving holiday for the semifinal and final doubleheaders November 26 and 28. The remaining 12 teams will play third and fourth round games on November 24 and 25. These games will be played on the home campus sites of the three highest remaining seeds. Participating teams will not play any team twice and third and fourth rounds will be assigned to the most geographically compatible site possible.
GRAHAM LEADS FAU PAST ROLLINS: Florida Atlantic used a 15-2 second-half run to pull away from Division II Rollins College and win its final exhibition tune-up 61-56 Monday night at the FAU Arena. Paul Graham III scored 16, including a pair of 3-pointers during FAU's decisive run and senior classmate Carderro Nwoji finished with a game-high 17. Under the direction of first-year head coach Mike Jarvis, Florida Atlantic will officially open its 2008-09 season at home Friday night against Monmouth. Rollins made seven 3-point baskets in the first half, three by 6-foot-6 sophomore guard Nick Wolf. Wolf finished with 15 to lead the Tars.
LARGE CROWD WATCHES OPENER: The paid attendance to watch Mike Jarvis' debut as the FAU head coach totaled 1,292 - a crowd larger than any regular season game at the FAU Arena last season. The official attendance number included 888 students. The Owls defeated local Division II Lynn University 73-69. FAU sophomore Xavier Perkins, a product of Boca Raton's St. Andrew's High School, made a pair of free throws with :13 seconds left and finished with 18 points. The Owls had led by as many as 15 in the first half. At the two-minute mark the game was even at 67-67 before Carlos Monroe scored in transition to give FAU a one-basket advantage. Monroe finished with 21 points, leading all scorers.
FAU HEAD COACH: Mike Jarvis is in his 20th season as a Division I men's basketball head coach and his first as coach of the Florida Atlantic University Owls. Jarvis' accomplishments place him among the nation's elite college basketball coaches, having led three different programs into the NCAA Tournament during stops at Boston University (1985-90), George Washington University (1990-98) and St. John's University (1998-04). 9 NCCA Tournaments | 5 National Invitational Tournaments (NIT) | 18 Conference Tournaments | 3 Conference Tournament Championships | 1987-88 ECAC-North Atlantic Champions (BU) | 1989-90 ECAC-North Atlantic Champions (BU) | 1992-93 NCAA Sweet 16 (GW) | 1994-98 Six-straight berths into NIT or NCAAs (GW) | 1998-99 NCAA Elite 8 (SJU) | 1999-00 BIG EAST Champions (SJU) | 2002-03 NIT Champions (SJU) | 7 NCAA Tournament wins | 5 NIT victories | 25 conference tournament wins.
BASKETBALL SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW: Single game and season tickets are on sale for the 2008-09 men's basketball season. Season tickets are available for the 14-game regular season for $120. Tickets for youth and senior citizens are sold for $84. Courtside and sideline seats are also available. Those who purchase courtside seats will receive a priority parking pass, buffet food service, and five free admission tickets to all women's basketball doubleheader dates during the season. Single game tickets are on sale for as low as $5, general admission seats are $12, and reserved seats are being sold for $18. For more information call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
IMMEDIATE PROGRESSION: Improvement on FAU's 2007-08 Sun Belt Conference record (8-10) seems to be a realistic goal for the Owls. Just once in 19 seasons has a Jarvis-coached team failed to post a winning record within conference play. In the first season at each of his three previous coaching stops - Boston University, George Washington and St. John's - Jarvis has reached the NCAA Tournament or NIT.
ON THE ROAD EARLY AND OFTEN: FAU plays just three home games during the months of November and December. The Owls will not play consecutive home games until mid-January. The Preseason NIT has the Owls playing perennial Pac-10 Conference power Arizona in Tucson November 17 (televised nationally on ESPNU). FAU will also face either UAB or Santa Clara in Tucson on November 18. Two more NIT games (at least one is gaurunteed to be away from home) follow the road trip to Tucson. Early-season dates at Kentucky and at nationally-ranked Miami should prepare FAU for conference play which dominates its schedule during the months of January and February. The Owls first two SBC games are on the road (at Denver Dec. 16, at Troy Dec. 18).
MONROE PICKED AS SUN BELT'S TOP PLAYER: CollegeHoops.net has named Florida Atlantic University senior Carlos Monroe a Preseason Mid-Major All-America player. Monroe, a 6-foot-8-inch power forward from Philadelphia, enters his final collegiate season as the projected "Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year" according to Lindy's Magazine and the USA Today. A Third Team Preseason All-America pick by CollegeHoops.net, Monroe was one of just 15 players nationally to earn a spot on one of the three teams announced by the online publication and the only Sun Belt Conference player to earn such an honor. Monroe averaged 15.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game as a junior last season, which included 13 double-doubles. He has already established himself as FAU's all-time leader in rebounds and is on pace to become the school's all-time leading scorer.
FATHER AND SON: In 1992-93 FAU's associate head coach Mike Jarvis II began his collegiate coaching career as a first-year assistant working with his father, Mike Jarvis, at George Washington. A veteran of nine NCAA Tournaments, his impressive resume includes coaching tenures at George Washington University, Drexel University, St. John's University and Duke University. As a coach, Jarvis II has reached the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 four times. He owns four conference championship rings and was essential in St. John's National Invitational Tournament (NIT) Championship title in 2003 and the Red Storm's run into the NCAA Tournament's South Regional Final (Elite 8) in 1999.
GRAHAM AMONG LEAGUE'S BEST GUARDS: FAU's 6-foot-5 senior guard Paul Graham III scored 14.0 points per game for the second-straight season a year ago. Graham was picked by the league's coaches to be a Third Team All-SBC player this season. The USA Today projected Graham to be a second team player. The Philadelphia native needs just 54 more points to total 1,000 for his FAU career. He also ranks among the Owls' all-time leaders in assists.
FAU PICKED FOURTH IN SUN BELT EAST: The Owls were picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt's East Division as voted upon by the league's coaches. The SBC East sent two teams to the NCAA Tournament last season (Western Kentucky and South Alabama) and Middle Tennessee State is projected favorite to win the league title in 2008-09.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Three-time all-conference power-forward Carlos Monroe headlines an accomplished FAU senior class. Point-guard Carderro Nwoji, the league's top returning assist man, and high-scoring swingman Paul Graham III offer first-year head coach Mike Jarvis a combination of talent and experience in the backcourt. Look for senior forward Sammy Hernandez - a transfer from George Mason's Final Four team of 2006 - to play a prominent role as well.
COACHING CREDENTIALS: Collectively the FAU coaching staff has made 23 trips to the NCAA Tournament. As a staff, FAU's four coaches (Mike Jarvis, Mike Jarvis II, Matt McCall and Tim Kaine) boast a career record of 816-386 - a near 70% career winning percentage.
JARVIS BRINGS IN FIVE NEW PLAYERS: Despite getting a late start in the recruiting process due to his hiring in May of this year, Jarvis was able to ink a pair of the nation's top prep school guards in Alex Tucker (San Pedro, California) and Shavar Richardson (Brooklyn, New York). Also new for 2008-09 is sharp-shooting high school standout Nick Gagel (Louisville, Kentucky) and 6-foot-8 transfer Justin Davis (Jacksonville, Florida). Davis will practice with the team but sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules. 6-foot-6 forward Chris Watson (Daytona Beach, Florida) was the last player added to Jarvis' first recruiting class. Watson is a tremendous leaper, earning accolades as Florida's top dunker by both Florida Amateur Athletic Zone and Breakdown Online Magazine.
HARD TO BEAT IN BOCA: FAU is 32-7 when playing at home spanning the past three seasons. The Owls were 11-4 in Boca Raton and 7-3 versus SBC teams in 2007-08. Included in FAU's 11-4 home record last season was a seven-game winning-streak from Jan. 12, 2008 - Feb. 20, 2008.
MAJOR UPGRADES IN `THE BURROW': The FAU Arena (a.k.a. `The Burrow'), home of Florida Atlantic basketball, has undergone a transformation over the past two years. The entire arena was remodeled inside and out in the fall of 2007 - which included the installation of a state-of-the-art video scoreboard. Gone are the bleacher seats, as chair-back seating is now in place throughout the arena. Additionally the University has completed the installation of four luxury suites which overlook the floor. The suites are equipped with 16 seats, nine fixed seats in front and seven stools in the back row. A sink and refrigerator are both available as well as individual climate control and a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. For more information on seating and tickets call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
STRONG FINISH IN 2007-08: Florida Atlantic won 8-of-12 to finish the 2007-08 season. Under the direction of second-year head coach Rex Walters the Owls rebounded nicely from a 1-7 overall start and a 0-5 conference beginning. The Owls were 15-18 and 8-10 in Sun Belt Conference play. FAU won its first round Sun Belt Conference postseason tournament game for the second consecutive year, topping Florida International 91-64 at the FAU Arena. Junior forward Carlos Monroe (15.4 ppg/9.5 rpg), the league's top rebounder, was named a First Team All-Sun Belt player. Monroe broke the school's single-season rebounding record and eclipsed FAU's career rebounding mark - remarkably Monroe still has another season to play.
THE FAU RECORD BOOK: F Carlos Monroe enters the season as FAU's all-time leader in rebounds (644), 5th in points scored (1,191), 4th in scoring average (15.4) and field goals made (466), 3rd in career field goal % (.542), 2nd in career double-doubles (24), 5th in free throws made (255). F/C Brett Royster set FAU's freshman record for blocks (41) last season. G Paul Graham III ranks 7th all-time in points (946), 8th in assists (168), 6th in free throws made (222). G Carderro Nwoji hit 87.4% of his free throws last season, the 2nd-best single-season % in FAU history. Nwoji also posted the 5th-highest single-season assist total (122) and was 9th all-time in single-season 3-point baskets (59).
