Jarvis Varnado

Jarvis Lamar Varnado (born March 1, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Piratas de La Guaira of the Venezuelan Basketball League. Varnado is known as a defensive specialist and is especially adept at shot blocking where he's aided by his large wingspan.

Varnado graduated from Haywood High School in Brownsville, Tennessee in 2006.

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Varnado was listed as the No. 16 power forward and the No. 62 player in the nation in 2006.

Varnado played for Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of the NCAA Division I from 2006 to 2010.

He led the NCAA in blocks for the 2007–08 season with 157 blocks, tying Shaquille O'Neal for the most blocks in a season in the SEC. In the 2008–09 season, he would break that single season record with 170 blocks.

On November 21, 2009, Varnado became the SEC's all-time career block record holder with 413 total blocks in his career. This passed O'Neal's career block record of 412. On January 23, 2010, Varnado surpassed Adonal Foyle on the NCAA's Division I all-time career blocks list to become the second-leading shot-blocker. Needing 8 blocks for the record, Varnado became the NCAA's Division I all-time shot blocker against Alabama on February 24, 2010, passing Wojciech Myrda's record of 535 career blocks.

Varnado was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 3 consecutive years (2008, 2009 and 2010) becoming the first person to do so. He is one of just two college players in history to achieve the milestone of 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 blocks (along with David Robinson).

Varnado was drafted by the Miami Heat with the 41st pick in the 2010 NBA draft. However, he signed to play with Carmatic Pistoia, an Italian team playing in the second-division. Varnado played 33 games with Pistoia and averaged 15.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game.