2008–09 California Golden Bears men's basketball team

The 2008–09 California Golden Bears men's basketball team represented the University of California, Berkeley in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Mike Montgomery's first season at California. The Golden Bears played their home games at Haas Pavilion and participated in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Golden Bears finished the season 22–11, 11–7 in Pac-10 play to finish in third place. They lost to USC in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament. They received an at–large bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a 7 seed in the West Region. They were beaten by 10 seed Maryland in the first round.

2008–09 California Golden Bears men's basketball
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	22–11 (11–7 Pac-10)
Head coach	Mike Montgomery
Assistant coaches	Jay John Travis DeCuire Gregg Gottlieb
Home arena	Haas Pavilion
Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference
men's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 15 Washington	14	–	4		.778			26	–	9		.743
No. 18 UCLA	13	–	5		.722			26	–	9		.743
No. 19 Arizona State	11	–	7		.611			25	–	10		.714
California	11	–	7		.611			22	–	11		.667
USC†	9	–	9		.500			22	–	13		.629
Arizona	9	–	9		.500			21	–	14		.600
Washington State	8	–	10		.444			17	–	16		.515
Oregon State	7	–	11		.389			18	–	18		.500
Stanford	6	–	12		.333			20	–	14		.588
Oregon	2	–	16		.111			8	–	23		.258
† Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

2008–09 California Golden Bears men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Nican Robinson (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Jr Oakland, California G 1 D.J. Seeley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Stockton, California G 2 Jorge Gutiérrez 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Chihuahua, Mexico G 3 Jerome Randle 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Chicago, Illinois F 10 Jamal Boykin 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr Los Angeles, California G 12 Nigel Carter (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Los Angeles, California G 13 Nikola Knezevic 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Jr Belgrade, Serbia C 14 Max Zhang 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Fr Yantai City, China F 21 Omondi Amoke 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Fr Oxnard, California G 22 Eddie Miller (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Antioch, California G 23 Patrick Christopher 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Compton, California F 24 Theo Robertson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Pittsburgh, California C 32 Taylor Harrison 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So San Clemente, California C 33 Jordan Wilkes 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Los Angeles, California F 43 Harper Kamp 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 255 lb (116 kg) So Mesa, Arizona	Head coach Mike Montgomery Assistant coach(es) Travis DeCuire Gregg Gottlieb Jay John Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 13 March 2025

Source^[1][2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 15, 2008*		Pacific	W 68–56	1–0	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Nov 18, 2008*		San Francisco	W 87–74	2–0	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Nov 20, 2008*		Texas–Pan American	W 85–58	3–0	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Nov 24, 2008*		North Carolina A&T	W 82–47	4–0	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Nov 28, 2008*		at UNLV	W 73–55	5–0	Thomas & Mack Center  Paradise, Nevada
Nov 29, 2008*		vs. Florida State	L 77–80	5–1	Thomas & Mack Center  Paradise, Nevada
Dec 3, 2008* CSN California		DePaul	W 77–67	6–1	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Dec 7, 2008* ESPNU		at Missouri	L 66–93	6–2	Mizzou Arena  Columbia, Missouri
Dec 10, 2008*		at Utah	W 72–69	7–2	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
Dec 20, 2008* CSN Bay Area Plus		Nevada	W 75–66	8–2	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Dec 22, 2008*		Colgate	W 83–48	9–2	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Dec 27, 2008*		Dartmouth	W 98–62	10–2	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Dec 28, 2008*		Portland	W 81–61	11–2	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Pac-10 Regular Season
Jan 2, 2009 CSN California		Arizona	W 69–55	12–2 (1–0)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Jan 4, 2009 CSN California		No. 17 Arizona State	W 81–71	13–2 (2–0)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Jan 8, 2009		at Washington State	W 57–50	14–2 (3–0)	Friel Court  Pullman, Washington
Jan 10, 2009 CSN California		at Washington	W 88–85 3OT	15–2 (4–0)	Bank of America Arena  Seattle, Washington
Jan 17, 2009 CSN Bay Area	No. 22	at Stanford	L 69–75	15–3 (4–1)	Maples Pavilion  Stanford, California
Jan 22, 2009		Oregon State	L 65–69	15–4 (4–2)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Jan 24, 2009 CSN California		Oregon	W 76–69	16–4 (5–2)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Jan 29, 2009 FSN		at No. 17 UCLA	L 66–81	16–5 (5–3)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, California
Jan 31, 2009 FSN		at USC	L 62–73	16–6 (5–4)	Galen Center  Los Angeles, California
Feb 5, 2009		No. 22 Washington	W 86–71	17–6 (6–4)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Feb 7, 2009 FSN		Washington State	W 71–63	18–6 (7–4)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Feb 14, 2009 FSN		Stanford	W 82–75	19–6 (8–4)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Feb 19, 2009 CSN California		at Oregon	W 78–60	20–6 (9–4)	McArthur Court  Eugene, Oregon
Feb 21, 2009		at Oregon State	L 54–65	20–7 (9–5)	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
Feb 26, 2009 CSN California		USC	W 81–78 OT	21–7 (10–5)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Feb 28, 2009 ESPN		No. 22 UCLA	L 68–72	21–8 (10–6)	Haas Pavilion  Berkeley, California
Mar 5, 2009 FSN		at Arizona	W 83–77	22–8 (11–6)	McKale Center  Tucson, Arizona
Mar 7, 2009 CBS		at No. 21 Arizona State	L 66–83	22–9 (11–7)	Wells Fargo Arena  Tempe, Arizona
Pac-10 tournament
Mar 12, 2009* FSN	(3)	vs. (6) USC Quarterfinals	L 75–79	22–10	Staples Center  Los Angeles, California
NCAA tournament
Mar 19, 2009* CBS	(7 W)	vs. (10 W) Maryland First Round	L 71–84	22–11	Sprint Center  Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific.

Source^[3]

Rankings

See also: 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	22	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	22	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—