One of the supreme compliments you can give an athlete is that he/she makes those around him/her better. According to Mike Jarvis, who coached Jeff Timberlake during his four-year Terrier career, that's exactly what he did for his teammates.
"Jeff loved making those around him better players," Jarvis said. "He gave up the flash and glitter for the sake of the team."
Twelve years after he played, Timberlake held the school record for assists in a season with 238 in 1988-89 and assists in a career with 788.
Lest one think that he didn't take a shot or two for himself, check the fact that he scored 1066 points in his career, which ranked on the Terriers' all-time list. He was also a tenacious player on defense, as he was fourth on the Terriers' all-time list in steaks with 147 at the time of his induction.
His best season was in 1988-89, when, as a senior, he averaged 13.1 ppg, led the team in steals with 47 and had a record 238 assists, which ranked sixth nationally. He was the team's co-MVP, was First Team All-Conference and Second Team UPI All-New England.
As a junior, he became the first player in school history to score more than 300 points (313), hand out more than 200 assists (223)Â and collect over 100 (103) rebounds in a season.
"Jeff was a great competitor who made it easy for us to coach. He always rose to the challenge," Jarvis said of Timberlake, who played on teams that had a combined record of 83-39.
The 1987-88 club was 23-9 and lost to Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Three of Timberlake's four teams won over 20 games, while the fourth won 18.
"He exemplified what BU basketball was about during the late 80s," said Jarvis.
