A Close Look in at Jarvis Garrett - The Heart and Soul of the Rhode Island Rams
Coming out of high school, Jarvis Garrett, from Milwaukee, WI was given a 2-star rating originally by ESPN's recruiting database. By the word of college basketball experts, Garrett was given a 2-star rating because he played basketball at Notre Dame Prep, before arriving to college. In his first three seasons with the Rams, he has shown that he is far better than a random 2-star recruit. Garrett possesses the ability to lead his team to the Atlantic 10 regular season title and the Atlantic 10 conference tournament title.
In a 2015-2016 season where Dan Hurley's basketball team was crippled and looking for an answer, Garrett muscled together some of the answers that they were able to muster in a relatively average season. Overall, they finished that particular season with a 17-15 overall record and a 9-9 record in conference. Believe me when I say that of the team's 15 losses, none came from a lack of effort from URI's #1. In one of the best games of the season, PC escaped the Ryan Center with a 74-72 game on a buzzer-beating tip-in by Ben Bentil (who pushed Garrett straight in the back before tapping the ball in). I will never forget being right near the court and seeing Garrett raise his home jersey over his face as he squatted on the floor in pure disgust and disappointment in the heartbreaking loss. In this interstate rivalry game, Jarvis Garrett had an electrifying 17 points while dribbling circles around current Minnesota Timberwolves guard and heralded defender, Kris Dunn. Luckily, the starting point guard was bound for celebrations and happiness in his junior season; he just did not know it yet. Before his time was done as a sophomore, he combined with his fellow sophomores, Jared Terrell and Andre Berry to pull an unpredictable upset at Dayton before the regular season was over. The win was monumental given what kind of roster Rhode Island had remaining and the Flyers' loss was their second and last loss in conference play for that season.
After a brutal elbow and the loss of a tooth in a home game against St. Joseph's point guard, Shavar Newkirk, Garrett was forced to wear a protective mask that kept his jaw and extremities in place. During that season, I was in the Ryan Center every single time that someone in the Rhode Island cheered on Garrett's drives to the hoop and his mask. Although all of the fans and many people around the country got a good laugh out of the country, he did not find the mask to be too funny, "Oh my god, I hated it ... I hated it but I dealt with it. It was very hard to play with the mask." Sitting down on the bench during games and drinking through a straw that got inserted into one of the holes in his mask was one of the sacrifices that Jarvis Garrett has made as a Rhode Island basketball player.
The Rhode Island basketball fans, as well as Coach Hurley had to know that they had a special player when Garrett was willing to play his entire sophomore campaign with a mask that protected his broken jaw. One would be surprised to know how many Division 1 college basketball players would have simply rested up and taken a bunch of games off. A warrior like Jarvis Garrett is not one of those people; like many of his teammates, he is a player that wants to play no matter what the circumstances are and win every game at any physical cost. Comically, Garrett's best statistical season was with his season dressing up to be Hannibal Lecter for the majority of his games.
With another hyped-up group alongside of him, Garrett came into the 2016-2017 season, being part of a ranked Rhode Island Rams team. At the very beginning of the season, the Rams conducted their business on the court as such. However, in the fourth game of the season, the injuries bug appeared to begin and the season appeared to be doomed again. As I sat in the Mohegan Sun Arena, I watched the entirety of the URI vs. Cincinnati game with nervousness because I knew just how important the game was to the Rams hopes of getting back to the Big Dance for the first time since 1999.
The first half of the battle was quite ugly for Dan Hurley's until a late rally was spurred on at the end of the half by fellow junior, Jared Terrell. When the Rams cut the Cincinnati lead down to a 31-27 mark with 1:29 remaining before halftime, Garrett's junior season looked like it may have flashed before everyone's eyes and the Rhode Island faithful stood in the arena with bated breath. With a sharp drive to the basket on a fast break, breakout PG Jarvis Garrett from Milwaukee, WI collapsed immediately to the hardwood after his head collided with the courtside camera man's knee in a freak accident. Shortly thereafter, he was carted off the court following a round of applause from the crowd and handshakes from all of the URI players and staff, as well as Cincinnati players. Everyone in attendance wondered how URI could possibly win the game without their starting PG. After all, #1 had continually embodied strength and heart, especially with his time with "The Mask" in his sophomore season, where he averaged a career high of 12.5 PPG in games against the likes of Kris Dunn and Melo Trimble. Following some late-game heroics by E.C. Matthews, the Rams were able to prevail over the Bearcats, 76-71, but having Garrett would have alleviated the task.
In Dan Hurley's most successful season (2016-2017), not enough credit has been given to the sacrifice that Jarvis Garrett made. When a player on any contending college basketball team goes down, it is expected that the next man on the roster will step up when his name is called. In the case of the Rhode Island Rams, Jeff Dowtin stepped up to the plate and consistently produced when his teacher at the same position was out for eight straight games with ulcerative colitis. Upon his return to the team on February 15, 2017 at home vs. Fordham, he played the best game of all his teammates in a devastating 53-43 loss that initially appeared to cripple URI's NCAA tournament hopes.
While no one really spoke about it, I admired how Garrett never demanded that he get his starting job back. As a junior on a veteran-laden team, if the Wisconsin native wanted to request his spot back from Coach Hurley, I do not envision a scenario in which he would have been denied. Despite this probability, Garrett put his desire to be a good teammate and to be a winner over his ego and everything else. For this very line of reasoning, he should receive ample praise from the Rhode Island faithful. The thought is insane that Jarvis Garrett went from a sophomore star to an unsung hero as a junior. Moreover, as a player who came out last year and said to journalist Adam Zagoria that he continues to work towards one day being in the NBA, his sacrifice in playing time has been invaluable. His exact words to Zagoria were, "Yes, I am motivated to try to play professionally, play further than college basketball ... I feel like I’m in the right position right now as long as I stay on the right path and listen to coach."
In a game vs. VCU that determined whether URI had any semblance of hope remaining for their at-large chances into the Big Dance, Jarvis Garrett sealed up the game with his free-throw shooting. For all three seasons that Garrett has played under Dan Hurley, his team has been the subject of numerous jokes locally and nationwide, concerning the team's poor free-throw shooting. I think the point guard from Milwaukee, Wisconsin wanted to change that reputation on this day. Every time that the VCU Rams inched closer to rallying back in this dogfight, they were stopped by Garrett and company. Garrett's 12-12 afternoon from the charity stripe gave VCU no chance of ever coming back. With this victory, the Rhode Island Rams remained extremely relevant in the picture of bubble teams that were still hoping to get into the 2017 NCAA tournament.
Fittingly, the heart and soul of this team, Jarvis Garrett, received three of the biggest hugs in Rhode Island's celebration of their Atlantic 10 championship victory on CBS's television broadcast of the game. First, Dan Hurley and his 2014 recruit had a big exchange on the sideline as Kuran Iverson dribbled the clock out. Then, Jared Terrell tackled his brother in arms to the floor in a sight that will never be forgotten in Rhode Island men's basketball history. Next, in the postgame victory with Dan Hurley and E.C. Matthews, Hassan Martin gave Garrett an overbearing hug to commemorate the momentous win.
If you for some reason do not enjoy Jarvis Garrett's game on the court enough or his emotional uprising and his toughness, then I am sure that you will enjoy the fact that his twin sons will one day be the next URI backcourt duo.
