2008–09 Florida Gators men's basketball team

2008–09 Florida Gators men's basketball
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEast
Record25–11 (9–7 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coachLarry Shyatt
Shaka Smart
Rob Lanier
Home arenaO'Connell Center
Seasons
2008–09 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
South Carolina 10 – 6   .625 21 – 10   .677
Tennessee 10 – 6   .625 21 – 13   .618
Florida 9 – 7   .563 25 – 11   .694
Vanderbilt 8 – 8   .500 19 – 12   .613
Kentucky 8 – 8   .500 22 – 14   .611
Georgia 3 – 13   .188 12 – 20   .375
West
No. 21 LSU 13 – 3   .813 27 – 8   .771
Auburn 10 – 6   .625 24 – 12   .667
Mississippi State† 9 – 7   .563 23 – 13   .639
Alabama 7 – 9   .438 18 – 14   .563
Ole Miss 7 – 9   .438 16 – 15   .516
Arkansas 2 – 14   .125 14 – 16   .467
† SEC Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008–09 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2008–09 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The Gators were looking to build on their 24–12 record from the 2007–08 season.

Preseason

Entering the season, the Gators had to overcome the loss of Marreese Speights, who left for the 2008 NBA draft after his sophomore season with the Gators. (Speights was selected in the draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.) To replace him, the Gators added six freshmen to the team. The Gators won their two preseason games against Rollins and Warner.

Class of 2008

[1][2][3]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Allan Chaney
PF 		New London, Connecticut New London HS 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Aug 23, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 95
Kenny Kadji
C 		Douala, Cameroon IMG Academy 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jun 30, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 96
Ray Shipman
SF 		Pace, Florida Pace HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 204 lb (93 kg) Jun 21, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 96
Eloy Vargas
PF 		Moca, Dominican Republic American Heritage School 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sep 26, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 96
Erving Walker
PG 		Middle Village, New York Christ The King Regional HS 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 140 lb (64 kg) Dec 29, 2006 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 93
Overall Recruiting Rankings:     Scout – 9     Rivals – 10 [4]     ESPN – 2 

Roster

Name Number Position Height Weight Class Hometown
Adam Allen 14 F 6–8 225 Sophomore Milton, Florida
Nick Calathes 33 G/F 6–6 194 Sophomore Winter Park, Florida
Allan Chaney 24 F 6–8 231 Freshman Baltimore, Maryland
Hudson Fricke 40 G 6–1 193 Sophomore Greenville, South Carolina
Walter Hodge 15 G 6–0 170 Senior Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Kenny Kadji 30 F/C 6–10 235 Freshmen Douala, Cameroon
Vernon Macklin 32 F 6–10 230 Junior Portsmouth, Virginia
Kyle McClanahan 4 G 6–1 185 Freshman Maitland, Florida
Chandler Parsons 25 F 6–9 213 Sophomore Winter Park, Florida
Ray Shipman 3 G/F 6–5 212 Freshman Miramar, Florida
Alex Tyus 23 F 6–8 220 Sophomore St. Louis, Missouri
Eloy Vargas 1 F/C 6–10 215 Freshman Moca, Dominican Republic
Erving Walker 11 G 5–8 161 Freshman Brooklyn, New York
Dan Werner 21 F 6–7 230 Junior Middletown, New Jersey

Coaches

Name Type College Graduating year
Billy Donovan Head coach Providence College 1987
Larry Shyatt Associate Head Coach College of Wooster 1973
Shaka Smart Assistant coach Kenyon College 1999
Rob Lanier Assistant coach St. Bonaventure University 1990
Darren Hertz Assistant to the Head Coach Florida 1997
Adam Beaupre Video Coordinator Florida 1999
Matt Herring Strength & Conditioning Coordinator University of Texas Southwestern 1994
Dave Werner Athletic Trainer Eastern Kentucky University 1991
Tom Williams Academic Counselor Florida 1978

After the season, assistant coach Shaka Smart left to become head coach of the VCU Rams.

Schedule and results

Retrieved from Gatorzone.com

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Exhibition games
November 3, 2008*
7:00 pm 		No. 19 Warner W 108–49 
O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
November 6, 2008*
7:00 pm 		No. 19 Rollins W 82–53 
O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
Regular Season
November 14, 2008*
6:00 pm, ESPNU 		No. 19 Toledo W 80–58  1–0
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
November 16, 2008*
2:15 pm, ESPNU 		No. 19 Bradley W 81–58  2–0
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
November 20, 2008*
8:00 pm, SUN 		No. 18 Southern Utah W 64–50  3–0
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
November 24, 2008*
7:30 pm, ESPN2 		No. 17 vs. Syracuse
CBE Classic Semifinal 		L 83–89  3–1
 Sprint Center 
Kansas City, MO
November 25, 2008*
7:45 pm, ESPNU 		No. 17 vs. Washington
CBE Classic Consolation Game 		W 86–84  4–1
 Sprint Center 
Kansas City, MO
November 30, 2008*
1:00 pm, SUN 		No. 17 vs. Missouri-Kansas City W 86–65  5–1
 Amway Arena 
Orlando, FL
December 2, 2008*
7:00 pm, SUN 		No. 23 Florida A&M W 73–58  6–1
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
December 7, 2008*
6:00 pm, FSN 		No. 23 at Florida State L 55–57  6–2
 Donald L. Tucker Center 
Tallahassee, FL
December 10, 2008*
8:00 pm, FSN 		Florida Gulf Coast W 94–60  7–2
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
December 20, 2008*
6:30 pm, FSN 		vs. UCF W 89–61  8–2
 Veterans Memorial Arena 
Jacksonville, FL
December 22, 2008*
7:00 pm, FSN 		Georgia Southern W 88–81  9–2
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
December 28, 2008*
6:30 pm, FSN 		vs. Winthrop W 74–45  10–2
 BankAtlantic Center 
Sunrise, FL
December 30, 2008*
1:00 pm, FSN 		Stetson W 78–57  11–2
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
January 3, 2009*
4:00 pm, CBS 		NC State W 68–66  12–2
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
January 6, 2009*
7:00 pm, SUN 		Longwood W 95–69  13–2
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
January 10, 2009
6:00 pm, FSN 		Ole Miss W 78–68  14–2 (1–0)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
January 14, 2009
8:00 pm, Raycom 		at Auburn W 68–65  15–2 (2–0)
 Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
January 17, 2009
2:00 pm, Raycom 		Arkansas W 80–65  16–2 (3–0)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
January 21, 2009
7:00 pm, Raycom 		No. 24 at South Carolina L 69–70  16–3 (3–1)
 Colonial Life Arena 
Columbia, SC
January 25, 2009
1:30 pm, CBS 		No. 24 at Vanderbilt W 94–69  17–3 (4–1)
 Nashville, TN 
Memorial Gymnasium
January 28, 2009
8:00 pm, Raycom 		Georgia W 83–57  18–3 (5–1)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
January 31, 2009
9:00 pm, ESPN 		at Tennessee
ESPN College GameDay 		L 63–79  18–4 (5–2)
 Thompson-Boling Arena 
Knoxville, TN
February 3, 2009
9:00 pm, ESPN 		South Carolina W 97–93  19–4 (6–2)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
February 10, 2009
9:00 pm, ESPN 		at Kentucky L 65–68  19–5 (6–3)
 Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY
February 14, 2009
3:30 pm, ABC 		at Georgia L 86–88  19–6 (6–4)
 Stegeman Coliseum 
Athens, Georgia
February 18, 2009
7:00 pm, SUN 		Alabama W 83–74  20–6 (7–4)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
February 21, 2009
3:00 pm, Raycom 		Vanderbilt W 82–68  21–6 (8–4)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
February 24, 2009
9:00 pm, ESPN 		at LSU L 75–81  21–7 (8–5)
 Pete Maravich Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
March 1, 2009
2:00 pm, CBS 		Tennessee L 75–79  21–8 (8–6)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
March 4, 2009
8:00 pm, Raycom 		at Mississippi State L 71–80  21–9 (8–7)
 Humphrey Coliseum 
Starkville, MS
March 7, 2009
2:00 pm, CBS 		Kentucky W 60–53  22–9 (9–7)
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
SEC Tournament
March 12, 2009
9:45 pm, Raycom 		vs. Arkansas
SEC Championship round 1 		W 73–58  23–9
 St. Pete Times Forum 
Tampa, FL
March 13, 2009
9:45 pm, Raycom 		vs. Auburn
SEC Championship round 2 		L 58–61  23–10
 St. Pete Times Forum 
Tampa, FL
National Invitation Tournament
March 18, 2009
8:00 pm 		No. 1 No. 8 Jacksonville
National Invitational Tournament round #1 		W 84–62  24–10
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
March 20, 2009
7:00 pm, ESPNU 		No. 1 No. 4 Miami
National Invitational Tournament round #2 		W 74–60  25–10
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
March 24, 2009
9:00 pm, ESPN 		No. 1 No. 2 Penn State
National Invitational Tournament Quarterfinal 		L 62–71  25–11
 O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week.
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 Wk 19 Final
AP 19 19 18 17 23 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR 23 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Coaches 21 21 19 19 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

References

  1. ^ Florida Class of 2008 – Rivals
  2. ^ Florida Class of 2008 – Scout
  3. ^ Florida Class of 2008 – ESPN
  4. ^ "2008 Team Recruiting Rankings – Rivals". Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.