Florida Atlantic University Athletics
2008-09 Season Preview
9/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 11, 2008
`A New Day' in Florida Atlantic University men's basketball history began on May 27, 2008 when university officials announced Mike Jarvis as head coach.
FAU's future looks bright. Having been to just one NCAA Tournament (2002) in the program's 14-year Division I history, FAU hired a proven winner in Coach Jarvis - a veteran of nine NCAA Tournaments and five National Invitational Tournaments in 19 seasons as a head coach.
Jarvis is one of just eight active coaches to total 100-plus wins at three different schools. If he can reach the 100-win mark at FAU he would join Lefty Drisell as one of two to have done so at four.
The team Jarvis inherits returns its top three scorers from 2007-08 and some of the league's most talented players in seniors Carlos Monroe (Philadelphia, PA/Cape Coral HS), Paul Graham III (Philadelphia, PA/Philadelphia Lutheran) and Carderro Nwoji (Wichita, KS/Redlands CC). The trio is a big reason FAU is welcoming back 80% of its offense from a year ago and 69% of its rebounding production - thanks largely to Monroe.
Monroe, a 6-foot-8 senior forward originally from Philadelphia, enters the season as a legitimate candidate for Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year honors. Monroe was the best rebounder in the SBC last season at 9.4 boards a game and scored, on average, over 15 points a night.
In just three seasons Monroe has already established himself as FAU's all-time leading rebounder (644) and is the only player in school history to have totaled 600-plus rebounds and 1,000-plus points.
If Monroe can equal his rebounding and point production of the last two seasons and the backcourt receives consistent play from both Graham III (14.4 points per game in 2007-08) and Nwoji (122 assists in 2007-08), FAU should contend for a top-tier finish in the SBC.
The Owls do face a difficult schedule. All but three games during the months of November and December take place away from home. The Preseason NIT has the Owls playing perennial Pac-10 Conference power the University of Arizona in Tucson November 17. Early-season dates at the University of Kentucky and at the University of Miami should prepare FAU for conference play which dominates its schedule during the months of January and February.
The senior trio of Monroe, Graham III and Nwoji highlight a group of seven returning scholarship players. Jarvis has added five more players to fill out the roster, including a pair of prep school standouts, Shavar Richardson (Brooklyn, NY/New Creations Christian Prep) and Alex Tucker (San Pedro, CA/Summit College Prep), that may be ready to contribute immediately.
Improvement on FAU's 2007-08 Sun Belt Conference record (8-10) seems to be a realistic goal for the Owls in 2008-09. Just once in 19 seasons has a Jarvis-coached team fail to post a winning record within conference play. Even more encouraging for the FAU faithful is the fact that 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.
