2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the college basketball season of 2008–2009. The team's head coach was Tubby Smith. This was Smith's second year as Minnesota's head coach. The Golden Gophers played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Big Ten Network included the team in a two-and-a-half-hour special that featured Midnight Madness events from several Big Ten campuses on October 17, 2008; the Minnesota event to kick off the season was called "Tubby's Tipoff".^[1] The Gophers started the season on a twelve-game winning streak for the first time since the 1948–49 season.^[2] The team became ranked on December 22, the first time the team had been ranked since the 2002–03 season.^[3]

2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball
NCAA tournament first round vs. Texas, L 76–62
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	22–11 (9–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Tubby Smith
Assistant coaches	Ron Jirsa Saul Smith Vince Taylor
Home arena	Williams Arena
Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 8 Michigan State	15	–	3		.833			31	–	7		.816
No. 17 Purdue†	11	–	7		.611			27	–	10		.730
Illinois	11	–	7		.611			24	–	10		.706
Penn State	10	–	8		.556			27	–	11		.711
Ohio State	10	–	8		.556			22	–	11		.667
Wisconsin	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
Minnesota	9	–	9		.500			22	–	11		.667
Michigan	9	–	9		.500			21	–	14		.600
Northwestern	8	–	10		.444			17	–	14		.548
Iowa	5	–	13		.278			15	–	17		.469
Indiana	1	–	17		.056			6	–	25		.194
† 2009 Big Ten tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Recruit Royce White signed with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but did not play due to shoplifting and trespassing charges. He transferred to Iowa State in July 2010.^[4]

Roster

#	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Position	Class	Hometown	Previous Team(s)
0	Al Nolen	6'1"	180	G	So.	Minneapolis, MN, U.S.	Minneapolis Henry HS
1	Paul Carter	6'8"	195	F	So.	Little Rock, AR, U.S.	Little Rock Mills HS Missouri State-West Plains
3	Kevin Payton	6'5"	215	G/F	RJr.	Camden, NJ, U.S.	Camden HS
4	Travis Busch	6'4"	220	G/F	Jr.	Mounds View, MN, U.S.	Mounds View HS
5	Devoe Joseph	6'3"	170	G	Fr.	Ajax, ON, Canada	Pickering HS
11	Jonathan Williams	6'9"	250	G	Sr.	St. Cloud, MN, U.S.	Notre Dame Prep St. Cloud Apollo HS
20	Lawrence Westbrook	6'0"	195	G	Jr.	Chandler, AZ, U.S.	Winchendon Prep
22	Devron Bostick	6'5"	210	G	Jr.	Racine, WI, U.S.	St. Catharine's HS SW Illinois
24	Blake Hoffarber	6'4"	200	G	So.	Minnetonka, MN, U.S.	Hopkins HS
33	Jamal Abu-Shamala	6'5"	210	G/F	Sr.	Shakopee, MN, U.S.	Shakopee HS
34	Damian Johnson	6'7"	195	F	RJr.	Thibodaux, LA, U.S.	Thibodaux HS
45	Colton Iverson	6'10"	235	F/C	Fr.	Yankton, SD, U.S.	Yankton HS
50	Ralph Sampson III	6'11"	220	F/C	Fr.	Duluth, GA, U.S.	Northview HS

Incoming signees

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ralph Sampson III C	Duluth, Georgia	Northview HS	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Oct 25, 2007
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (89)
Devoe Joseph SG	Ajax, Ontario	Picking HS	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Nov 21, 2007
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (76)
Colton Iverson PF/C	Yankton, South Dakota	Yankton HS	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Sep 19, 2007
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (88)
Paul Carter F	West Plains, Missouri	Missouri State – West Plains	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Aug 21, 2007
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (n/a)
Devron Bostick SF	Belleville, Illinois	Southwestern Illinois	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	213 lb (97 kg)	Oct 11, 2007
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (n/a)
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: 27    Rivals: 23
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Minnesota Commit List for 2008". Rivals. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "ESPN – Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball Recruiting 2008". ESPN. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved November 20, 2008.

2008–09 Schedule and Results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 3, 2008* 7:00 pm		St. Cloud State	W 88–80		Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 6, 2008* 7:00 pm		Northern State	W 92–62		Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
Regular Season
November 14, 2008* 7:00 pm		Concordia, St. Paul NABC Classic	W 76–51	1–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 15, 2008* 7:00 pm		Bowling Green NABC Classic	W 68–61	2–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 16, 2008* 7:00		Georgia State NABC Classic	W 60–52	3–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 22, 2008* 9:00, The Mtn.		at Colorado State	W 72–71	4–0	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, CO
November 26, 2008* 7:30, BTN		Eastern Washington	W 88–67	5–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
November 29, 2008* 1:00, BTN		North Dakota State	W 90–76	6–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 2, 2008* 8:30, ESPN2		Virginia ACC–Big Ten Challenge	W 66–56	7–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 6, 2008* 1:00		Cornell	W 71–54	8–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 10, 2008* 8:00, BTN		South Dakota State	W 74–60	9–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 20, 2008* 1:00, FSN North		vs. No. 9 Louisville Stadium Shootout	W 70–64	10–0	University of Phoenix Stadium  Glendale, AZ
December 23, 2008* 8:00, ESPNU	No. 23	Southeastern Louisiana	W 80–71	11–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
December 28, 2008* 7:00, ESPNU	No. 23	High Point	W 82–56	12–0	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
Big Ten Regular Season
December 31, 2008 11:00am[5], BTN	No. 21	No. 10 Michigan State	L 58–70	12–1 (0–1)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 3, 2009 11:00am, BTN	No. 21	No. 24 Ohio State	W 68–59	13–1 (1–1)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 8, 2009 6:00, ESPN2	No. 22	at Iowa	W 52–49	14–1 (2–1)	Carver-Hawkeye Arena  Iowa City, IA
January 11, 2009 2:30, BTN	No. 22	Penn State	W 79–59	15–1 (3–1)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 15, 2009 8:00, BTN	No. 18	at Wisconsin	W 78–74 (OT)	16–1 (4–1)	Kohl Center  Madison, WI
January 18, 2009 1:00, BTN	No. 18	at Northwestern	L 65–74	16–2 (4–2)	Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
January 22, 2009 6:00, ESPN2	No. 21	No. 18 Purdue	L 62–70	16–3 (4–3)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
January 25, 2009 11:00am, BTN	No. 21	at Indiana	W 67–63	17–3 (5–3)	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
January 29, 2009 8:00, BTN		No. 19 Illinois	W 59–36	18–3 (6–3)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
February 4, 2009 7:30, BTN	No. 19	at No. 13 Michigan State	L 47–76	18–4 (6–4)	Breslin Center  East Lansing, MI
February 7, 2009 7:00, BTN	No. 19	at Ohio State	L 58–64	18–5 (6–5)	Schottenstein Center  Columbus, OH
February 10, 2009 8:00, BTN		Indiana	W 62–54	19–5 (7–5)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
February 14, 2009 12:30, BTN		at Penn State	L 63–68	19–6 (7–6)	Bryce Jordan Center  State College, PA
February 19, 2009 6:00, BTN		at Michigan	W 74–62	19–7 (7–7)	Crisler Arena  Ann Arbor, MI
February 22, 2009 6:00, BTN		Northwestern	W 72–45	20–7 (8–7)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
February 26, 2009 6:00, BTN		at No. 20 Illinois	L 41–52	20–8 (8–8)	Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
March 4, 2009 7:30, BTN		Wisconsin	W 51–46	21–8 (9–8)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
March 7, 2009 11:00am, ESPN		Michigan	L 64–67	21–9 (9–9)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
2009 Big Ten tournament
March 12, 2009* 11:00am, BTN	(8)	vs. (9) Northwestern First Round	W 66–53	22–9	Conseco Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
March 13, 2009* 11:00am, ESPN	(8)	vs. (1) No. 7 Michigan State Quarterfinal	L 56–64	22–10	Conseco Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
2009 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament
March 19, 2009* 6:10, CBS	(10 E)	vs. (7 E) Texas First Round	L 62–76	22–11	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

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

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Final
AP							23	21	22	18	21	NR	19	NR
Coaches							23	21	19	17	20	24	19	NR