Born in Caldwell, Idaho,[1] Jarvis' parents were Curtis E. and Margaret Helen (Mumford) Jarvis. His father was a high school basketball head coach, first at Caldwell High. In the early 1950s, the family moved from Caldwell to Coquille, Oregon, where Curt coached at Coquille High School. He later moved to Roseburg High School when Jim was a high school sophomore.[2]
Jarvis was selected by the San Francisco Warriors of the National Basketball Association in the sixth round (45th overall) of the 1965 NBA draft, but was cut by the team. Jarvis never played in the NBA, but did spend three seasons in the ABA as a member of the Pittsburgh / Minnesota Pipers and Los Angeles Stars. He was a member of the 1967–68 Pittsburgh Pipers team that won the 1968 ABA Finals, during which Jarvis had a clutch performance in Game 6. With Pittsburgh facing elimination, he came off the bench to score 18 points, making seven out of 12 field goal attempts to help the Pipers stay alive and eventually win the title in Game 7.[6]
Coaching
In 1971, Jarvis was hired as the head basketball coach at Spokane Falls Community College in Spokane.[7] After three seasons, he was hired by the University of Idaho in Moscow in March 1974, following the resignation of eight-year head coach Wayne Anderson after the elimination of full-time assistant coaches. The Vandals had finished no higher than sixth place in the Big Sky for the three previous seasons.[8] After four seasons, all with last place finishes in the conference, Jarvis resigned in June 1978 under recurring allegations[9][10] of illegal recruiting.[11][12][13] The program had been placed on probation for one year in January, resulting in a reprimand for Jarvis and his assistant coach by the university.[10][14][15]
Jarvis was succeeded in August by Idaho alumnus Don Monson,[12] who had significantly greater success, taking the Vandals to consecutive conference titles in 1981 and 1982, a top ten ranking, and advancement to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
After coaching at Idaho, Jarvis returned to Oregon and worked in real estate in Bend.[2][16]
