College basketball's 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

College basketball’s 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

ATHENS, GREECE - APRIL 23: Rick Pitino, Head Coach of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens react during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Play Off game 3 between Panathinaikos Opap Athens v Real Madrid at Olympic Sports Center Athens on April 23, 2019 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Panagiotis Moschandreou/EB via Getty Images) /

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UNITED STATES – NOVEMBER 27: St. John’s head coach Mike Jarvis has some advice from the sidelines during game against Purdue. (Photo by Howard Earl Simmons/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) /

30. Mike Jarvis pays players at St. John’s

St. John’s has long considered itself to be an institution in college basketball, a legacy that was well-earned with its dominant runs in the Big East in the 1980s. The program hasn’t done as well since the turn of the century when the program found itself in hot water thanks to the actions of head coach Mike Jarvis.

Jarvis took over the Red Storm after Fran Fraschilla was fired in 1998, leading St. John’s to the Elite Eight in 1999 and a Big East Tournament title in 2000. Off the court, however, things weren’t going so well for Jarvis and the Red Storm.

Jarvis quickly found himself in hot water due to some unseemly behavior from his players, with one player getting charged with assaulting a female student while another was caught smoking marijuana near campus. The smoking gun, which got Jarvis onto this list, came from Red Storm center Abe Keita.

Keita, who played for St. John’s for four years towards the end of Jarvis’ tenure, admitted that the coach had paid him $300 a month while he was enrolled at the school. This obviously impermissible benefit was disclosed after Jarvis was fired, but St. John’s still paid heavily for his cheating.

The Red Storm self-imposed several penalties, including a postseason ban for the 2004-2005 season and vacating 43 wins that Keita participated in. That also forced the school to give up its NIT Championship in 2003, the third school in NCAA history to have to vacate an NIT title.