Coach Mike Jarvis leads athletes in action team to Taiwan

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Former college basketball coach Mike Jarvis was very successful at what he did. Everywhere he went, he made people winners. He coached at Boston University for five years and recorded 101 wins. He coached at George Washington for eight years and won 143 games, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the 1993 NCAA Tournament.

He coached at St. John’s University for five years and added 110 wins and an Elite Eight appearance in the 1999 NCAA Tournament to his belt. He even helped coach Team USA to their first FIBA 22 and Under World Championship in 1993. The guy knows how to win. But now, two years after he stopped coaching, Jarvis has found success in something other than winning. He has found it in his faith.

On January 29, 2005, Jarvis decided to place his faith in Jesus Christ. This decision has affected Jarvis more than any of his accomplishments ever have.

"I’m excited. I’m more excited now than I have ever been as a human being because I’m a Christian," Jarvis said.

The last two years of Jarvis’ life have been spent working with ESPN. His first year with the network was spent doing mostly in-studio college analytical work and working some games as a commentator. This last season he worked in the studio of ESPNU in Charlotte. Of course, other opportunities have come up for Jarvis, and one opportunity was too good to pass up.

This summer Jarvis partnered with Athletes in Action to coach a basketball team in Taiwan for two weeks. The team, who represented the USA, competed in and won the Jones Cup, an international basketball tournament.

The tour to Taiwan is just one of many for Athletes in Action. Between May and August, hundreds of college athletes and AIA staff travel the world to play competitive games, run clinics and attend sports camps. Each opportunity is used to share the matchless love of Jesus Christ as well as to teach the athletes how to be lifetime ministers of the Gospel. By summer’s end, approximately 700 college athletes will have been involved with AIA’s 35 summer tours, camps and projects.

Jarvis was recommended for the job by Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Haney, also a Christian, had talked with Eric Nelson, director of basketball for AIA, and suggested that Jarvis would be a great fit for the job. Nelson didn’t have to do much convincing after that.

"Once he told me about the program, there was no doubt that I wanted to be involved," Jarvis said.

Made up of all Division I players from across the nation, the team’s goal was to share the love of Christ through basketball. The roster included Christian Moody from the University of Kansas, Patrick Moody from the University of North Carolina and Luke Zeller from the University of Notre Dame.

Led by Jarvis, all of these players share the same faith and are a part of the tour for the same reason.

"This is about playing for Christ. This is about representing Him. Without any question at all, it’s not about money, it’s not about fame and it’s not about trophies. It’s all about him," Jarvis said.

This isn’t Jarvis’ first time taking a random mix of players to play overseas. He was an assistant coach in 1993 when the USA Men’s 22 and Under team went to Argentina for the World Championship Qualifying Tournament. Later in the year the team was a part of the FIBA World Championship in Spain.

But this is the first time that he has done it with all Christian guys. For Jarvis, that aspect of the trip is special.

"I will honestly say I have probably never in my entire life -- probably since high school -- have I ever been so excited to be involved as a coach in basketball," Jarvis said.

Any basketball coach, including Jarvis, would say the team had a successful tournament. The team went 8-1 through the tournament and won the Jones Cup Championship, defeating home team Taiwan in the finals. Even though Jarvis found success in the basketball arena, that has nothing to do with why he thought the tour was successful.

Jarvis set a goal for his team that was more important than winning. He wanted the team to play for God.

"Our purpose was to play for Him and glorify Him. It is our way of thanking and praising Him for the gifts and talents that He has blessed us with. That is exactly what happened," Jarvis said.

Even during the championship game, Jarvis’ team was less concentrated on winning and more concentrated on showing the love of Christ. At halftime Jarvis and player Troy Devries from the University of New Mexico shared about their love for Christ and the impact it has had on their lives. Jarvis made it clear from the beginning that it was about God first and basketball second.

Jarvis is so excited about the tour that he is already thinking about other possibilities. At the same time, he realizes that he can’t plan too far ahead. Instead, he plans on keeping his options open and doing whatever he feels God leading him to do.

"I have said this a thousand times. You make plans and God laughs," he said. "And He has a great sense of humor especially when we think we are in control. So if God grants me the health and life, I hope that I will be invited back [to AIA]."

The tour has even made Jarvis think about possible career changes, which could lead to more involvement with AIA.

"This has really given me something to think about in terms of my own future," he said. " ... What I would like to do is really be able to show more people what AIA is all about and why they should be involved not only in the program, but more importantly in Christ."

Jarvis’ main passion used to be basketball. It has changed. Yes, basketball is still high up on the list, but now his passion is Jesus Christ. It is his desire that sports would be a way to share what he believes in and what his players believe in.

"Wouldn’t it be nice if sports were conducted the way that God intended it to? Participating in a basketball team should be like being part of the church body -- with different people representing different functions," Jarvis said. "When we are able to make all of those functions work and remove our selfishness, we play the way God intended us to play."

Jarvis is happy for the opportunity that he had to participate in the tour. The whole time he was there he didn’t know what to expect. It made him feel like a little kid.

"This was a nice way for a little kid to spend two weeks of his life," he said.