Tulsa World: Jarvis makes most of second chance

TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

		Sports Editor Mike Strain
		Sports Columnist Dave Sittler
		The Picker Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

Jarvis makes most of second chance

By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 3/26/2009 2:32 AM
Last Modified: 3/26/2009 4:16 AM

NORMAN — When is second place better than first? When the occasional college football recruit's winner doesn't work out so well and he starts liking his runner-up a whole bunch.

Meet Jarvis Jones.

Jones picked LSU over Oklahoma as a four-star offensive line recruit in the 2007 class. The Tigers won the '07 national championship and Jones played in seven games as a true freshman. But he got in trouble a couple times and ended up getting dismissed from the team for violating undisclosed team rules. LSU coach Les Miles said "it was time to go in a different direction."

That direction was Norman, where he arrived prior to training camp in 2008. He redshirted last season, studying the OU system and getting physical on the scout team. Now, nearly halfway through spring practice, he's competing for a starting job on the Sooners' retooled line.

"Jarvis is doing very good. Real talented player," said OU assistant James Patton. "He's got some football savvy. He's got some toughness. He's an athletic player. He's got a good punch. Just needs reps in our system, what we do. But he's doing good for six practices."

The 6-foot-7, 294-pound Richmond, Texas, native is working with Cory Brandon at right tackle. Getting the hang of OU's no-huddle offense is a significant adjustment after LSU's run-oriented attack.

"Just taking it one step at a time," Jones said. "I know I'm not ready for a game situation right now, but I know I'm working and persevering and stuff, staying in there with my coaches and teammates and what-not, I'll get there. I think if I put my trust in them, they'll get me ready for next season, for sure."

Jones declined to discuss the circumstances under which he left Baton Rouge but said OU and LSU "were neck and neck" in recruiting. "I never heard anything really good about Oklahoma, or any fun, so when I came out of high school, I was looking at trying to party instead of taking care of business. I think I found the right spot with my second choice.

"I kind of like it here."

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com

Red/White Game

When: 1:15 p.m. April 11

Where: Memorial Stadium, Norman

Tickets: $5 through April 7, $10 after. Call (405) 325-2424 or (800) 456-4668 or buy online at tulsaworld.com/ouredwhite

2009 schedule

Sept. 5 BYU (at Arlington, Texas)

Sept. 12 Idaho State

Sept. 19 Tulsa

Oct. 3 at Miami, Fla.

Oct. 10 Baylor

Oct. 17 Texas (at Dallas)

Oct. 24 at Kansas

Oct. 31 Kansas State

Nov. 7 at Nebraska

Nov. 14 Texas A&M

Nov 21 at Texas Tech

Nov. 28 Oklahoma State By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

COMMENTS

Add your comment

Show: Most Recent Comment First

1 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Report Comment

Lance-a-lot, Tulsa (3/26/2009 9:34:35 PM)

He is rooming with Granger right?

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.