2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball team

The 2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball team was an NCAA Division I college basketball team that represented the University of Central Florida and competed in Conference USA. They played their home games at the UCF Arena in Orlando, Florida, and were led by head coach Kirk Speraw who was in his 16th season with the team. In the previous year, the Knights finished the season 16–15, 9–7 in C-USA play.^[2]

2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball
UCF Holiday Classic Champions (vacated)
Conference	Conference USA
Record	0–14[a] (0–9[1] C-USA)
Head coach	Kirk Speraw
Assistant coaches	Mike Jaskulski Craig Brown Robert McCullum
Home arena	UCF Arena
Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Memphis †	16	–	0		1.000			33	–	4		.892
Tulsa	12	–	4		.750			25	–	11		.694
UAB	11	–	5		.688			22	–	12		.647
Houston	10	–	6		.625			21	–	12		.636
UTEP	10	–	6		.625			23	–	14		.622
Marshall	7	–	9		.438			15	–	17		.469
Tulane	7	–	9		.438			14	–	17		.452
East Carolina	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
Southern Miss	4	–	12		.250			15	–	17		.469
Rice	4	–	12		.250			10	–	22		.313
SMU	3	–	13		.188			9	–	21		.300
UCF	0	–	9		.000			0	–	14		.000
† 2009 CUSA Tournament winner As of April 1, 2009 Rankings from AP Poll *UCF vacated its wins from the 2008–09 season after it was discovered that there was an ineligible player on the team.

In February 2012, UCF vacated its wins from the 2008–09 season after it was discovered that there was an ineligible player on the team.^[1][3] The team's pre-sanction record was 17–14 (7–9). The "official" record stands as 0–14.

Roster

Name[4]	Number	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
David Diakite	15	G/F	6–6	205	Freshman	Washington, D.C.
P.J. Gaynor	21	F	6–7	200	Freshman	Jacksonville, Florida
Jakub Kusmieruk	13	C	7–4	300	Freshman	Sokołów Podlaski, Poland
A.J. Rompza	3	G	5–9	160	Freshman	Chicago, Illinois
Isaac Sosa	11	G	6–3	180	Freshman	Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Drew Speraw	10	G	6–2	175	Junior	Oviedo, Florida
Jermaine Taylor	1	G	6–4	215	Senior	Tavares, Florida
Amara Thompson	22	G	6–4	180	Freshman	Tucker, Georgia
A.J. Tyler	25	F	6–9	225	Sophomore	Palm Harbor, Florida
Jean Michel Yotio	34	F/C	6–9	235	Sophomore	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Taylor Young	12	G	6–1	195	Sophomore	Orlando, Florida
Kenrick Zondervan	13	F/C	6–9	240	Senior	Hoofddorp, Holland

Coaches

Name[4]	Type	College	Graduating year
Kirk Speraw	Head coach	University of Iowa	1980
Mike Jaskulski	Associate Head Coach	St. Norbert	1976
Craig Brown	Assistant coach	University of Florida	1995
Micah Byars	Director of Basketball Operations	University of West Florida	2006

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 11, 2008* 7:00 pm		Flagler	W 76–56	1–0	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
Regular season (Non-conference play)
November 16, 2008* 1:00 pm		North Carolina A&T	W 81–62	1–0	UCF Arena (3,508) Orlando, FL
November 18, 2008* 8:00 pm		at Valparaiso	L 52–69	1–1	Athletics–Recreation Center (2,764) Valparaiso, IN
November 22, 2008* 9:00 pm		at New Mexico	W 72–71	2–1	The Pit Arena (12,707) Albuquerque, NM
November 26, 2008* 7:00 pm		at Ole Miss	L 46–78	2–2	Tad Smith Coliseum (6,007) Oxford, MS
November 29, 2008* 4:30 pm		vs. South Dakota State Cancún Challenge	W 66–64	3–2	Moon Palace Resort (134) Cancún, MX
November 30, 2008* 5:00 pm		vs. Morehead State Cancún Challenge	L 65–71	3–3	Moon Palace Resort (192) Cancún, MX
December 6, 2008* 7:00 pm		South Florida UCF–USF rivalry	W 71–63	4–3	UCF Arena (6,695) Orlando, FL
December 12, 2008* 7:00 pm		Florida Tech	W 110–68	5–3	UCF Arena (3,502) Orlando, FL
December 20, 2008* 6:30 pm		vs. Florida	L 61–89	5–4	Veterans Memorial Arena (5,175) Jacksonville, FL
December 22, 2008* 7:00 pm		Valparaiso	W 85–60	6–4	UCF Arena (3,170) Orlando, FL
December 29, 2008* 7:00 pm		Penn UCF Holiday Classic	W 81–64	7–4	UCF Arena (3,340) Orlando, FL
December 30, 2008* 7:00 pm		Chicago State UCF Holiday Classic	W 89–75	8–4	UCF Arena (2,966) Orlando, FL
January 3, 2009* 7:00 pm		Holy Cross	W 85–70	9–4	UCF Arena (2,456) Orlando, FL
January 6, 2009* 7:00 pm		Sam Houston State	W 70–57	10–4	UCF Arena (3,004) Orlando, FL
Regular season (Conference play)
January 10, 2009 5:00 pm, no		Memphis	L 66–73	10–5 (0–1)	UCF Arena (9,825) Orlando, FL
January 13, 2009 8:00 pm		at UAB	L 52–60	10–6 (0–2)	Bartow Arena (4,321) Birmingham, AL
January 17, 2009 4:00 pm		at Rice	W 77–52	11–6 (1–2)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,567) Houston, TX
January 21, 2009 7:00 pm		Southern Miss	W 73–61	12–6 (2–2)	UCF Arena (3,860) Orlando, FL
January 25, 2009 2:00 pm		Marshall	W 87–69	13–6 (3–2)	UCF Arena (4,845) Orlando, FL
January 28, 2009 7:00 pm		SMU	W 70–45	14–6 (4–2)	UCF Arena (4,301) Orlando, FL
January 31, 2009 2:00 pm		at Tulane	W 79–74	15–6 (5–2)	Fogelman Arena (2,313) New Orleans, LA
February 4, 2009 7:00 pm		Houston	L 69–97	15–7 (5–3)	UCF Arena (5,868) Orlando, FL
February 7, 2009 7:00 pm		at East Carolina	L 75–89	15–8 (5–4)	Minges Coliseum (5,559) Greenville, NC
February 11, 2009 7:00 pm		at UTEP	L 68–73	15–9 (5–5)	Don Haskins Center (7,020) El Paso, TX
February 14, 2009 7:00 pm		Tulsa	W 74–72	16–9 (6–5)	UCF Arena (4,106) Orlando, FL
February 21, 2009 7:00 pm		at Houston	L 72–77	16–10 (6–6)	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,816) Houston, TX
February 25, 2009 7:00 pm		Rice	L 66–69	16–11 (6–7)	UCF Arena (4,010) Orlando, FL
February 28, 2009 7:00 pm		at Marshall	L 62–67	16–12 (6–8)	Cam Henderson Center (6,143) Huntington, WV
March 4, 2009 7:00 pm		at Tulsa	L 70–79	16–13 (6–9)	Reynolds Center (6,178) Tulsa, OK
March 7, 2009 7:00 pm		East Carolina	W 74–71	17–13 (7–9)	UCF Arena (4,788) Orlando, FL
Conference USA tournament
March 11, 2009		vs. Southern Miss	L 53–77	17–14	FedEx Forum (9,730) Memphis, TN
*Non-Conference Game. Rankings from AP poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Notes

1. UCF vacated its 17 regular season wins from the 2008–09 season after it was discovered that there was an ineligible player on the team. The team's pre-sanction record was 17–14 (7–9). The "official" record therefore stands as 0–17.