Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Injuries and Academics Force FAU B-Ball Players to Sit Out

The season started with head coach Mike Jarvis, in his first year with the Owls, leading the team to a 3-1 record, the program’s best start in 15 years. 

Since then, FAU has won just three of 23 games, and nearly half of the 12-man roster have had issues with being able to attend games.

Jarvis, a 20-year collegiate coaching veteran, will endure his worst season record-wise.  This is his fourth tenure and first that began with a losing season.

He says the team needs a leader. Paul Graham III, a senior forward who put his name in the 2008 NBA draft but went undrafted, leads the team in scoring but is missing help from key players needed to secure victories.

 

Carlos Monroe
Senior forward Carlos Monroe, FAU’s all-time leading rebounder and fifth all-time scorer, has missed all but six games this season.

Monroe was out for the first nine, then one against University of Miami, and now the last
11 games.
“It’s hard.  I’ve sat out before, but it seems like the older you get, the harder it is to watch the team go into battle without you,” Monroe says.

This season he missed the first nine games because of a “mix-up” with the Controller’s Office dating to early last February, and the last 11 have been because of two nagging right-foot injuries.  One is plantar fasciitis, and the other is a torn toe muscle.  The cause of the ailments is unknown.

Monroe missed the contest against University of Miami because of the foot injuries. The coaches felt it was best for him to stay back and rest his foot because the team had three away games that week and would rather use him for conference games, according to Monroe.

According to Jarvis, however, the reason he was absent from the UM game is because he missed a required test.

Either way, Jarvis knows the significance of Monroe to the team.
“Any team would miss him a lot,” says Jarvis.  “You miss that body, and you miss those points, and you miss those rebounds.”

Monroe’s junior year is the only season he did not sit out any time.  He missed time during his freshman year because of another “mix-up,” that time with the NCAA Clearing House and one of his Philadelphia high schools, according to Monroe.  He sat out time his sophomore year because his grades were too low for eligibility.

Monroe received the 2009 preseason Sun Belt player-of-the-year award and led the conference in rebounds last year.

He’s averaging 12.8 points and 5.2 rebounds a game for this season, both second on the team. 

 

Sammy Hernandez
Senior forward Sammy Hernandez’s playing time has decreased since he injured his groin and hamstring by slipping into a split against Kentucky on Dec. 27.
“The hamstring and the groin affected his effectiveness, and when you’re not effective, then that affects your minutes,” Jarvis says.

Even with it being Hernandez’s senior year, he says he doesn’t care about his own minutes as much as the team’s performance.
“It’s not about me; it’s about us, and we’re struggling as a team,” Hernandez says.

This attitude makes him a popular player with the home fans.  Any time he gets into a game or makes a good play, he receives cheers from the crowd, more so than any other player.
“I’m a friendly guy,” says Hernandez.  “I always like to say hello to people.”

He continues to have the same personality he came to FAU with after he transferred from George Mason, a team that made it to the final four during Hernandez’s freshman year, in order to be closer to his family.

 

Sanchez Hughley
Redshirt sophomore forward Sanchez Hughley is out the entire season with a blood clot in his left lung. His outlook on life has changed since he was diagnosed.
“Live life, and don’t take life for granted.  That’s how it changes you.  You never know when your days of basketball or life are going to just end,” Hughley says.

He had surgery in December to remove the blood clot and is expected to be ready for next season, according to Nicholas Mirkovich, assistant director of Athletics Media Relations.

He hurt his knee and missed time in both his previous years with FAU, and Hughley says that doctors have told him the blood clot in his left lung could have been caused by his knee injuries.

Jarvis has been there to help Hughley through this difficult time in his life.
“He’s been like a father to me.  I don’t know what I would have been without him here,” Hughley says.

Jarvis speaks highly of Hughley’s attitude.
“He’s an achiever, and he’s always trying to do the best he can,” says Jarvis.  “It’s easy to coach guys like Sanchez because they motivate themselves. What you have an opportunity to do is basically have the same kind of conversations you’d have with your own son.”

Hughley is walking everyday to keep in shape. 

 

Justin Davis
Sophomore center Justin Davis is forced to sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules. 

He transferred to FAU from Mercer University after his coach, Mark Slonaker, was fired, according to Davis. 

Slonaker owns the NCAA’s best single season turn-around in history and contacted Jarvis about Davis after the firing.
“It was one of the easiest recruits I ever made,” Jarvis says.

Davis is the tallest player on FAU’s roster, standing at 6’11”, and he made the Dean’s List as a freshman at Mercer because of his high grade point average.

Jarvis has helped ease Davis’s life on and off the court.
“He’s helped me on the court a lot, but he’s helped me more off the court in my personal life and [academics],” Davis says.

Jarvis got Davis an internship with the Orlando Magic for this summer.

Davis is preparing for next season while being an extra body at practices for a depleted roster.

 

Xavier Perkins
Redshirt sophomore forward Xavier Perkins played the first eight games this season but is suspended for all the remaining games.

Jarvis relied on him early on in the year as a catalyst for the team.
“He was our best player, our most productive player and we miss him a lot,” Jarvis says.

Perkins played time at four positions, averaging a team best 6.4 rebounds per game.  He’s third on the team with 12.4 points per game.

Perkins’ suspension is because of too low of a grade point average, according to Jarvis.
“He’s eligible by NCAA and by FAU requirements, but he’s not eligible by FAU men’s basketball requirements,” says Jarvis.  “It’s more about working up to your potential.  Sometimes good is not good enough because you really got to do the best you can at all times.”

Jarvis says it depends on Perkins’ academic performance whether he will return with the team next season.

 

Conclusion

With some players being out, other team members have seen more minutes.

Senior forward and former FAU band member Chris Coleman and three Jarvis recruits — freshman forward Chris Watson, freshman guard Alex Tucker and freshman guard/forward Shavar Richardson — have received more playing time compared to the beginning of the season due to the absences of Perkins and Monroe.

The foursome is averaging nearly 25 points per game, the same as Perkins and Monroe combined.

Jarvis says college basketball comes down to the first week of May.  That’s when conference playoffs start, and the more talented teams advance to a conference championship and either an NCAA tournament or NIT tournament invite.

The Owls still have a chance at a tournament, but they have to win the Sun Belt Conference title to earn a bid.

Even if this season’s ending turns out to be as disappointing as it has been so far, Jarvis says he is determined for a successful future at FAU.
“We’re not here for the season; we’re here for the reason, and that reason is to build a strong program.”

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