It was the perfect way to honor the past while helping the future.
Bringing back the 1998-99 Elite Eight team with a reunion dinner to raise money for Name, Image & Likeness.
Before it could become remotely possible, though, there had to be one guarantee, Tyrone Grant told Matt Abdelmassih, St. John’s new general manager of men’s basketball.
“Nobody’s coming back unless coach [Mike Jarvis] comes,” Grant, a center on that team, told Abdelmassih.
Jarvis hadn’t been back around the program since he was fired six games into the 2003-04 season.
There had remained animosity between the two sides, though not with anyone directly still working with the school.
When Jarvis’ son, Mike Jarvis II, broached the idea with him about returning to the school, he told him he had to think about it.
His son felt it was a no-brainer and the elder Jarvis agreed.
It had been nearly two decades and there were so many people he wanted to see, former players and friends.
His grandson, Geoffrey Shaiyen, is a team manager.
This weekend, Jarvis will return, first with the NIL dinner Friday and then for Saturday’s game at the Garden against No. 1 Connecticut when the team will be honored at halftime.
“I got a whole lot of thoughts. I can’t tell you all of ’em,” Jarvis, 78, told The Post in a phone interview. “But most of them are good, to be honest with you. I haven’t seen a lot of guys, living in Florida. The great thing is they’re excited. They seem to be very excited and happy about being honored and coming back and being together and that in itself makes it all worth it.”
He admitted there were some mixed emotions for him about going back. At the time of his dismissal, the team was 2-4.
It later came out that there were off-the-court issues in play. That included Grady Reynolds being charged with assaulting a female student.
Center Abe Keita claimed that a member of Jarvis’ staff paid him $300 a month across four seasons.
St. John’s placed itself on probation for two years and forfeited the 43 wins in which Keita participated, including the NIT title.
Jarvis was faulted by the NCAA for not properly monitoring the situation, but was otherwise cleared of any other wrongdoing.
“When it finally took place and everything was done and the NCAA came back and said, ‘You know what, all is well,’ it was too late,” said Jarvis, who went on to coach at Florida Atlantic from 2008-14. “I was gone, but my reputation had been tarnished by some things that people had said.”
Still, when he heard of how steadfast Grant and other players were about his being part of this event, Jarvis couldn’t say no.
It wouldn’t be right.
After all, he remains the most successful St. John’s coach since Lou Carnesecca.
There was the Elite Eight season, an NIT and Big East Tournament championship.
Three of his players, Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace), Erick Barkley and Lavor Postell, went on to play in the NBA.
Jarvis is still the last Red Storm coach to win an NCAA Tournament game, back in 2000.
Most remember the 1998-99 season the most, when St. John’s came within three points of the Final Four, losing to Ohio State in the Elite Eight.
That team, led by the big three of Postell, Artest and Bootsy Thornton, won 28 games and finished third in the Big East.
It crushed Bobby Knight and sixth-seeded Indiana in the second round and blew away Steve Francis and No. 2 Maryland in the Sweet 16.
“I just remember how tough and how resilient those guys were,” Jarvis said. “Starting in the backcourt with Erick all the way into the frontcourt. We had a guy by the name of Ron Artest. On any given night, he could cover five different positions. You had Bootsy Thornton, who developed into one of the top players in the country and Lavor Postell, who went on to play in the NBA. It was really a special team and they did some special things.
“When you really look at the history of St. John’s, those were some great, great teams and we accomplished quite a bit,” he added. “Cut down some nets a couple of different times at Madison Square Garden. Those guys deserved to be recognized. I’m really happy for the guys.”
It is ironic that the game this group will be back for is Connecticut.
The Huskies won the national championship in 1998-99 and went 2-0 against St. John’s, including a win in the Big East Tournament title game.
For the current team, it is a chance to add a massive win to its NCAA Tournament résumé, and it will have the best St. John’s team in the last three decades in attendance. Jarvis is thrilled to be a part of it.
“I hope and I believe it’ll be a very positive experience,” he said. “Hopefully, there will be a few people in the audience that were at our games and remember those teams and how much joy we brought to the city when we were there. Might even be some people that fondly remember coach Mike Jarvis.”
