Robert Winston "Cob" Jarvis (October 26, 1932 – February 18, 2014) was a star basketball player at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

who went on to become the school's head basketball coach from 1969 to 1976. He played three seasons with the varsity squad and established 18 school records with the team. He was the first University of Mississippi player to gain first team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

basketball honors twice. He averaged 19.3 points per game during his career. In 1966, Jarvis became Ole Miss' first ever assistant basketball coach. Ole Miss was the last school in the

to make such a hire. Two years later, he was hired as the school's first ever full-time head basketball coach. Ole Miss was also the last school in the SEC to do that as well. That season was infamous as Jarvis' predecessor Eddie Crawford had been trumpeted by Ole Miss Athletics as having "been promoted" from head basketball to freshman football coach. In his eight seasons as head coach, he led the team to an 87–117 record, including three straight winning seasons from 1971–1972 to 1973–1974. He didn't play basketball professionally, instead he chose to pursue baseball, which he also played at the University of Mississippi. An outfielder, he spent six seasons in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

(1954-1959) and played in the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

organizations. In 1955, with the

Spartanburg Peaches Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

in the Indians system, he hit .361 with 157 hits and 14 triples in 117 games. He was inducted into the Ole Miss Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. In 2010, he was named an SEC Basketball Legend. He died in

Eutaw, Alabama Eutaw ( ) is a city in and the county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The e ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Robert 1932 births 2014 deaths Baseball players from Mississippi Basketball coaches from Mississippi Basketball players from Mississippi College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States Minor league baseball players Ole Miss Rebels baseball players Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball coaches Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball players People from Eutaw, Alabama