Jarvis Is Out at St. John’s

Mike Jarvis became the first coach fired during the season in the 25-year history of the Big East Conference, dismissed by St. John’s on Friday after six games.

The Red Storm opened the season by losing four of five, which hadn’t happened since 1922-23, and it was beaten at home by Fairfield and Hofstra, drawing boos from fans and chants of “Fire Jarvis!”

A victory over St. Francis, N.Y., last week improved the team’s record to 2-4, but it wasn’t enough to save Jarvis’ job. The Red Storm also lost to Marquette and Duke.

Associate coach Kevin Clark takes over on an interim basis. St. John’s plays Sunday at No. 5 Georgia Tech.

“This wasn’t my choice, but you must respect the decision an employer makes,” said Jarvis, 110-61 in his five-plus seasons.

Jarvis, 58, still had next year remaining on his contract, which is thought to be in the $725,000-a-year range.

His son, assistant Mike Jarvis II, also was let go.

The timing of the firing was “the best thing for all parties,” St. John’s Athletic Director Dave Wegrzyn said.

“We feel it is in the best interest of everyone to make this decision,” he said.

He refused to discuss financial arrangements.

While Jarvis’ players struggled on the court, they had problems away from it too, and that helped lead to his undoing.

“I have no regrets at all for coming to St. John’s,” Jarvis said. “I would come again in a minute.”

He also was quick to talk of his future.

“I want to coach college basketball next year,” he said.

The Hartford Courant said possible replacements for Jarvis include Paul Hewitt, the Georgia Tech coach, former North Carolina and Notre Dame coach Matt Doherty, Manhattan’s Bobby Gonzalez, Davidson’s Bob McKillop and Rhode Island’s Jim Baron.

All have ties to New York.

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Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight is upset over dwindling attendance at Red Raider games. Texas Tech plays Iowa Monday in Dallas, which has 35,000 alums in the area. As of Thursday, only 8,500 tickets had been sold for the game, played in the 19,200-seat American Airlines Center. Average home attendance at Texas Tech games has been 6,976. Last season it was 9,962 in the 15,098 United Spirit Arena. Two seasons ago -- Knight’s first at the school -- the average was 13,743. ... The NCAA ruled that junior transfer Harvey Thomas is eligible to play for Baylor. He was under investigation for receiving an extra benefit.

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Red Storm in Decline

Mike Jarvis was named St. John’s coach on June 11, 1998 after spending eight seasons as coach at George Washington from 1989 to 1998. A look at his St. John’s record:

*--* Year W L Pct. Finish 1998-99 28 9 757 Lost in NCAA regional final to Ohio St. 1999-00 25 8 758 Lost in NCAA 2nd round to Gonzaga 2000-01 14 15 483 No postseason 2001-02 20 12 625 Lost in NCAA 1st round to Wisconsin 2002-03 21 13 618 Won NIT

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St. John’s opened with four losses in five games. Interim coach Kevin Clark coaches his first game Sunday at Georgia Tech:

* Nov. 13...Lost to Marquette, 45-52

* Nov. 24...Lost to Fairfield, 59-64

* Nov. 29...Defeated Stony Brook, 72-61

* Dec. 2...Lost to Hofstra, 64-81

* Dec. 6...Lost to Duke, 58-79

* Dec. 9...Defeated St. Francis (N.Y.), 58-52