Emporia State transfer guard Jarvis Nichols will have surgery this week to repair a torn ACL and will miss the 2008-09 season.
Nichols, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, transferred earlier this summer from Division I Northern Illinois. He has one year of eligibility remaining after taking a redshirt for the 2006-07 season. Nichols will keep his eligibility intact next year by becoming a part-time student for this school year.
Nichols was expected to be a big contributor for the Hornets this season. He started 10 games last season at Northern Illinois, where he was the team’s second-leading scorer at 9.9 points per game. He scored a career-high 21 points last season against Toledo and also shot 85 percent from the free-throw line.
“I think it is a major loss,” ESU coach David Moe said. “This was probably the best recruiting class we’ve signed. Jarvis was really the only one who’s a proven player at this level.”
Moe said Nichols came highly recommended by NIU coach Ricardo Patton, who Moe served as an assistant for at Colorado.
Nichols was part of a recruiting class that included three Division I transfers. Shang Ping transferred to ESU from Nebraska and Robert Moores transferred from the University of Albany. Moe also signed Lamar Wilbern, Jeremiah Box and Tim Niles during the spring signing period.
“We should still be pretty good,” Moe said, “but we went from probably being what I feel would be one of the most talented teams in the MIAA to a team that could finish anywhere in the league.”
Moe said he was working on trying to bring in another player this week, but with school starting today, he has decided to stick with the roster he has.
Nichols is still in Illinois and will come to Emporia after his surgery.
Nichols spent his first two collegiate years at Pratt Community College and came to ESU after his former Pratt teammate Moores transferred to ESU. Moores has two years of eligibility remaining and the backcourt duo will be able to play together in 2009-10.