Tom Jervis

Tom Jervis
No. 13 – East Perth Eagles
Position Centre
League State Basketball League
Personal information
Born 4 February 1987
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Nationality Australian
Listed height 211 cm (6 ft 11 in)
Listed weight 105 kg (231 lb)
Career information
High school Morley Senior
(Perth, Western Australia)
College Bevill State-Fayette JC (2005–2007)
Troy (2007–2009)
NBA draft 2009 / Undrafted
Pro career 2013–present
Career history
2005 East Perth Eagles (SBL)
2009–present East Perth Eagles (SBL)
2013–present Perth Wildcats (NBL)
Career highlights and awards
  • NBL champion (2014)
  • NBL Rookie of the Year (2014)
  • SBL champion (2014)
  • 3× SBL All-Star five (2011–2013)

Thomas Lachlan "Tom" Jervis (born 4 February 1987) is an Australian professional basketball player who currently plays for the East Perth Eagles of the State Basketball League (SBL). He played junior basketball for the East Perth Basketball Association and college basketball for both Bevill State Community College and Troy University in the United States.

Early life

Born in Kalgoorlie to parents Sue and Steve, Jervis moved to Perth at a young age and started playing basketball for the East Perth Basketball Association where he rose up the junior ranks. He attended Morley Senior High School, represented Western Australia in Under 18 and Under 20's, and made his State Basketball League debut in 2005 for the senior men's East Perth Eagles.[1] He was the SBL's leading shot blocker in 2005 with 3.4 blocked shots per game, in addition to averaging 9.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 20 games.[2]

Following the 2005 SBL season, Jervis moved to the United States to attend Bevill State Community College where he played basketball for the Bears in 2005–06 and 2006–07. On 24 January 2007, he committed to play for Troy University in 2007–08 as he departed Bevill State following his sophomore season.[3] As a junior for Troy, he averaged 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 29 games (eight starts). As a senior in 2008–09, he averaged 6.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in 32 games (30 starts).[4]

Following his senior season at Troy, Jervis returned to Australia and re-joined the East Perth Eagles for the rest of the 2009 SBL season.[5] After eight solid games for East Perth in 2009 with averages of 16.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, Jervis re-signed with the cub for the 2010 season in December 2009.[6] He went on to earn his first SBL All-Star five selection in 2011, before earning the honour two more times in 2012 and 2013.[7]

After an impressive training player stint for the Perth Wildcats during the 2010–11 NBL season, Jervis earned a call-up to the Australian Boomers squad for their training camp in preparation for their double-header against China in the 2011 YouYi Games.[8] He ultimately did not make the final team but he credited the experience in helping him further develop his game with the hopes of one day joining the Wildcats as a full-squad member.[9]

Professional career

Perth Wildcats (2013–present)

Following the 2013 SBL season, Jervis started a new career selling radiators to mine sites after he figured his chances of ever playing in the NBL were over. However, just two months into his new job, the Perth Wildcats became interested in him after he impressed new head coach Trevor Gleeson at a try-out. He subsequently signed a one-year deal with the Wildcats on 12 August 2013 as a back-up centre for All-NBL first teamer Matthew Knight.[10] He quickly adapted to the NBL as his height and maturity helped him transition his SBL game style rather smoothly. With the preseason injury to Knight, Jervis was the Wildcats' starting centre for much of the season despite being a rookie. He held his own and managed to have an impressive season as he was named the 2013–14 NBL Rookie of the Year after playing in all 28 games throughout the regular season.[11] To round out his great rookie season, the Wildcats went on to win the NBL championship after an impressive playoff display from the club. Jervis played in all 33 games for the Wildcats in 2013–14 as he averaged 5.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game.[12]

In May 2014, Jervis re-joined the East Perth Eagles for the rest of the 2014 SBL season.[13] With an NBL championship under his belt and an impressive group of players to work with at East Perth, Jervis was determined to lead the Eagles to a maiden SBL championship. He dominated upon his return and finished the season having recorded 11 double-doubles in 15 games.[14] With his continued dominance in the SBL, he was rewarded with a new contract offer from the Wildcats despite toying with free agency and even meeting with Melbourne United.[15] On 10 June 2014, he re-signed with the Wildcats on a two-year deal with a third-year player option.[16] Despite the Eagles' talented roster, the team finished seventh on the ladder and had to fight their way to the grand final. With the help of Wildcats' teammates Mathiang Muo and Sunday Dech, as well as former Wildcats Drew Williamson and Kyle Armour, the Eagles advanced through to the grand final where they faced the number one seeded Geraldton Buccaneers. In a dominating performance by Jervis and the Eagles, they defeated the Buccaneers 99-83 to win the SBL championship for the first time in club history. A dream 13 months for Jervis was completed with his first SBL championship been added to his NBL championship.[17] In December 2014, he recommitted to the Eagles for the 2015 season in the wake of head coach Adam Forde re-signing with the club.[18]

On 31 December 2014, Jervis had a season-best performance in his 50th NBL game as he recorded his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Wildcats defeat the Wollongong Hawks, 86-77.[19][20] He went on to score a season-high 17 points the following game on 9 January 2015 against the Cairns Taipans as he started in the absence of the injured Matthew Knight. In a career-high 34 minutes of action, he also recorded 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 assist but could not lead the Wildcats to victory as the lost 76-91.[21][22] On 23 January, he recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in a 93-85 overtime win over the Townsville Crocodiles.[23] The Wildcats finished the 2014–15 season in fourth spot with a record of 16-12 and faced off against the first-placed Cairns Taipans in the semi-finals. However, with multiple players injured and thus a depleted line-up, the Wildcats were swept 2-0 by the Taipans as their hopes of going back-to-back were shattered.[24] Jervis again appeared in all 28 regular season games, and with the two playoff games, he finished his second season with averages of 7.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.[12]

After missing the first seven games of the 2015 SBL season, Jervis made his season debut for East Perth against the Mandurah Magic on 18 April. In 34 minutes of action, he recorded 26 points and 7 rebounds in a 98-112 loss.[25][26]

International career

On 21 May 2014, Jervis was added to the Australian Boomers squad for the team's training camp leading into the 2014 Sino-Australia Challenge against Team China.[27] A week later, he was named in the team's final 12-man squad and went on to make his international debut on 29 May 2014 at Challenge Stadium.[28]

Personal

In March 2014, Jervis and his partner, Jazze McNeill, got engaged.[29]

References

  1. ↑ Chalmers, Steve (27 August 2014). "NBL Player Profile: Tom Jervis". PickAndRoll.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "2005 – MSBL Statistics". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "2007 – Troy Basketball Commitment List (5)". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Tom Jervis Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Tom Jervis returns to the Eagles". FoxSportsPulse.com. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Eagles secure Jervis". InMyCommunity.com.au. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  7. ↑ McAuliffe, Hugh (7 September 2014). "2014 SBL Awards". Eurobasket.com. Sports I.T. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Sapienza, Joseph (20 June 2011). "Jervis 'shock' at Boomers training squad call-up". PerthNow.com.au. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Kagi, Jacob (1 July 2011). "Jervis ready to take giant step to Wildcats". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Perth Wildcats sign WA big man Tom Jervis". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 12 August 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Rotnei Clarke takes out the 2013/14 MVP Award". NBL.com.au. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Player statistics for Tom Jervis – NBL". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Pike, Chris (21 May 2014). "Star centres Jervis, Nevill return to the SBL". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Player statistics for Tom Jervis – SBL". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  15. ↑ Miller, Dale (2 October 2014). "Wildcat Tom Jervis tipped to dominate". Yahoo.com (The West Australian). Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Perth Wildcats re-sign Tom Jervis". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 10 June 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  17. ↑ Pike, Chris (30 August 2014). "East Perth Eagles win first men's SBL championship". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  18. ↑ "Forde signs on for 2015". FoxSportsPulse.com. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Perth Wildcats finish strong to defeat Wollongong Hawks". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  20. ↑ "Wildcats as good as last year: Jervis". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 5 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  21. ↑ "Taipans vs Wildcats". FIBALiveStats.com. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  22. ↑ "Perth Wildcats defeated by Cairns Taipans". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 9 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "Perth Wildcats defeat Townsville Crocodiles in OT". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 23 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  24. ↑ "Perth Wildcats bow out of NBL Finals". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 1 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Eagles vs Magic". FIBALiveStats.com. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  26. ↑ Pike, Chris (19 April 2015). "Flames, Magic women keep winning; as do Buccs and men's Slammers (Week 6 Saturday night SBL wrap)". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  27. ↑ Pike, Chris (21 May 2014). "NBL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR TOM JERVIS ADDED TO BOOMERS SQUAD". Basketball.net.au. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  28. ↑ "Tom Jervis makes Boomers cut". Wildcats.com.au (NBL.com.au). 28 May 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  29. ↑ "gorgeous jazze and her handsome tom on the night of their engagement celebrations". sarahkatedormanblog.com. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.

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