2008–09 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

2008–09 season of University of Kentucky men's basketball team March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2008–09 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky Wildcats 2005 logo.svg Southeastern Conference Eastern SEC 22–14 8–8 Billy Gillispie 2nd Jeremy Cox Glynn Cyprien Tracy Webster Rupp Arena NIT Quarterfinals The 2008–09 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the college basketball season of 2008–09. The team's head coach was Billy Gillispie, who was in his second and final year as coach. The Wildcats played their home games at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The team's season started with a controversial early Midnight Madness event on October 10, 2008, which is not the traditional date for celebration that coincides with the first day of NCAA-sanctioned regular practice sessions that occurred on October 17, 2008. On March 15, 2009, the Wildcats accepted a bid to the 2009 National Invitation Tournament, ending a streak of 17 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship dating back to 1992.Kentucky-UNLV Preview Article from ukathletics.com, retrieved 2009-03–19. Archived 2009-06-02. Roster 2008 Kentucky Wildcats y yes Darius Miller y 1 F 6 7 223 FR Maysville, Kentucky Mason County Matt Scherbenske 2 G 6 0 165 JR Lexington, Kentucky Oak Hill Academy (VA)/Oral Roberts Kevin Galloway y 3 G 6 7 215 JR Sacramento, California Sacramento/Southern Idaho Ramon Harris y 5 F 6 7 218 JR Anchorage, Alaska West Anchorage Landon Slone 10 G 6 3 188 FR Paintsville, Kentucky Paintsville Adam Delph 11 G 6 1 161 FR Louisville, Kentucky Pleasure Ridge Park Mark Krebs 12 G 6 5 207 JR Newport, Kentucky Newport Central Catholic Michael Porter 13 G 6 3 198 JR Modesto, California Modesto Christian Mark Halsell 14 G 5 11 182 SO St. Charles, Missouri St. Charles/Southwestern Illinois A.J. Stewart 15 F 6 7 218 SO Jacksonville, Florida Arlington Country Day Perry Stevenson y 21 F 6 9 215 JR Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette Jodie Meeks y 23 G 6 4 208 JR Norcross, Georgia Norcross Donald Williams 25 G 6 3 205 FR Baton Rouge, Louisiana Progressive Christian Academy Dwight Perry y 30 G 6 1 187 JR Durham, North Carolina Southern Matt Pilgrim 33 F 6 8 233 JR Cincinnati, Ohio yes Bridgton Academy/Hampton DeAndre Liggins y 34 G 6 6 202 FR Chicago, Illinois Findlay Prep (NV) Jared Carter 43 C 7 2 277 SR Georgetown, Kentucky Scott County Patrick Patterson basketball y 54 F 6 9 235 SO Huntington, West Virginia Huntington Josh Harrellson y 55 C 6 10 265 SO St. Charles, Missouri St. Charles/Southwestern Illinois Billy Gillispie (Texas State) Tracy Webster (Wisconsin) Glynn Cyprien (Southern) Jeremy Cox (Mesa State) 2008 signees no yes 2008 DeAndre Liggins G Chicago, Illinois Findlay Prep 6 6 202 2007-06-27 4 4 89 Darius Miller G/F Maysville, Kentucky Mason County 6 7 223 2007-09-07 4 4 91 Kevin Galloway G/F Sacramento, California College of Southern Idaho 6 6 215 2008-03-10 3 3 n/a Josh Harrellson C St. Charles, Missouri Southwestern Illinois Community College 6 10 265 2008-04-29 3 3 n/a 2008 Kentucky 2008 Basketball Commitments 2008 Kentucky Basketball Commits ESPN kentucky 572 96 15 21 2008-08-11 yes 2008–09 schedule and results yes |- !colspan=12 style=Kentucky Wildcats|Exhibition November 3, 2008 7:00 pm yes Missouri-Saint Louis Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 111–53   0–0 November 7, 2008 7:00 pm yes Ouachita Baptist Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 94–72   0–0 |- !colspan=12 style=Kentucky Wildcats|Non-Conference Regular Season November 14, 2008 7:00 pm yes VMI Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 103–111 22,579 0–1 November 18, 2008 9:00 pm yes yes North Carolina 1 Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, NC ESPN 58–77 21,538 0–2 November 22, 2008 12:00 pm yes 2008–09 Delaware State Hornets Delaware State University Delaware State Rupp Arena Lexington, KY 2008 Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational FSN South 71–42 21,594 1–2 November 24, 2008 7:00 pm yes Longwood Rupp Arena Lexington, KY 2008 Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational FSN South 91–57 20,105 2–2 November 28, 2008 11:59 pm yes yes Kansas State Orleans Arena Las Vegas, NV 2008 Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational ESPNU 74–72 5,000 3–2 November 29, 2008 10:30 pm yes yes West Virginia Orleans Arena Las Vegas, NV 2008 Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Invitational ESPN2 54–43 5,500 4–2 December 3, 2008 7:00 pm yes 2008–09 Lamar Cardinals Lamar University Lamar Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 103–61 21,350 5–2 December 6, 2008 5:00 pm yes Miami (FL) 22 Rupp Arena Lexington, KY ESPN 67–73 24,109 5–3 December 7, 2008 3:00 pm yes Mississippi Valley State Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 88–65 21,476 6–3 December 13, 2008 4:00 pm yes Indiana Rupp Arena Lexington, KY CBS 72–54 23,767 7–3 December 20, 2008 12:00 pm yes 2008–09 Appalachian State Mountaineers Appalachian State University Appalachian State Freedom Hall Louisville, KY FSN South 93–69 10,173 8–3 December 22, 2008 7:00 pm yes 2007–08 Tennessee State Tigers Tennessee State University Tennessee State Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 102–58 21,958 9–3 December 27, 2008 3:00 pm yes 2008–09 Florida Atlantic Owls Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 76–69 24,018 10–3 December 29, 2008 7:00 pm yes Central Michigan Rupp Arena Lexington, KY FSN South 84–52 22,944 11–3 January 4, 2009 4:30 pm yes yes Louisville 18 Freedom Hall Louisville, KY Battle for the Bluegrass CBS 71–74 20,078 11–4 |- !colspan=12 style=Kentucky Wildcats|SEC Regular Season January 10, 2009 2:00 pm Vanderbilt Rupp Arena Lexington, KY Raycom 70–60 24,249 12–4 1–0 January 13, 2009 9:00 pm yes Tennessee Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN ESPN 90–72 20,474 13–4 2–0 January 18, 2009 9:00 pm yes Georgia Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA Raycom 68–45 9,090 14–4 3–0 January 21, 2009 9:00 pm Auburn Rupp Arena Lexington, KY Raycom 73–64 22,760 15–4 4–0 January 24, 2009 3:00 pm yes Alabama Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL Raycom 61–51 15,316 16–4 5–0 January 27, 2009 7:00 pm yes 24 Ole Miss Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS ESPN 80–85 6,852 16–5 5–1 January 31, 2009 3:00 pm 24 South Carolina Rupp Arena Lexington, KY Raycom 77–78 24,322 16–6 5–2 February 3, 2009 7:00 pm Mississippi State Rupp Arena Lexington, KY Raycom 57–66 21,940 16–7 5–3 February 10, 2009 9:00 pm Florida Rupp Arena Lexington, KY ESPN 68–65 24,355 17–7 6–3 February 14, 2009 1:00 pm yes Arkansas Bud Walton Arena Fayetteville, AR CBS 79–63 19,041 18–7 7–3 February 17, 2009 9:00 pm yes Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN ESPN 64–77 14,316 18–8 7–4 February 21, 2009 1:00 pm Tennessee Rupp Arena Lexington, KY CBS 77–58 24,394 19–8 8–4 February 25, 2009 7:00 pm yes South Carolina Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC Raycom 59–77 16,035 19–9 8–5 February 28, 2009 4:00 pm LSU 18 Rupp Arena Lexington, KY CBS 70–73 24,411 19–10 8–6 March 4, 2009 8:00 pm Georgia Rupp Arena Lexington, KY Senior Night Raycom 85–90 23,889 19–11 8–7 March 7, 2009 2:00 pm yes Florida O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL CBS 53–60 12,131 19–12 8–8 |- !colspan=12 style=Kentucky Wildcats|SEC Tournament March 12, 2009 1:00 pm yes E4 Ole Miss W5 St. Pete Times Forum Tampa, FL First Round Raycom 71–58 N/A 20–12 March 13, 2009 1:00 pm yes E4 LSU 20 W1 St. Pete Times Forum Tampa, FL Quarterfinals Raycom 58–67 N/A 20–13 |- !colspan=12 style=Kentucky Wildcats|National Invitation Tournament March 17, 2009 9:30 pm yes 4 2008–09 UNLV Runnin' Rebels University of Nevada at Las Vegas UNLV 5 Memorial Coliseum Lexington, KY First Round ESPN 70–60 8,327 21–13 March 23, 2009 7:00 pm yes yes 4 2008–09 Creighton Bluejays Creighton University Creighton 1 Qwest Center Omaha Omaha, NE Second round ESPN 65–63 16,984 22–13 March 25, 2009 7:00 pm yes yes 4 Notre Dame 2 Edmund P. Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN Quarterfinals ESPN2 67–77 7,636 22–14 Coaches' Poll Season honors and awards All-SEC Team Player Position First Jodie Meeks Guard First Patrick Patterson Forward All-SEC SEC Player of the Week Date Player Position 12/1 http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=3&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=11879&change_well_id=2 www.secsports.com 2008-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20090213075653/http://secsports.com/index.php?s= 2009-02-13 dead Jodie Meeks Guard 12/22 http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=3&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=11980&change_well_id=2 www.secsports.com - This Week In SEC Men's Basketball - 12/22 2008-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20081227162501/http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=3&url_article_id=11980&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2 2008-12-27 dead Jodie Meeks Guard 12/29 http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=3&url_article_id=11992&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2 www.secsports.com 2008-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20090213075653/http://secsports.com/index.php?s= 2009-02-13 dead Patrick Patterson Forward 1/19 Jodie Meeks Guard 2/16 http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=3&url_article_id=12203&change_well_id=2 www.secsports.com 2009-02-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20090213075653/http://secsports.com/index.php?s= 2009-02-13 dead Jodie Meeks Guard SEC Player of the Week SEC Freshman of the Week Date Player Position 12/8 http://secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=3&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=11920&change_well_id=2 www.secsports.com 2008-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20090213075653/http://secsports.com/index.php?s= 2009-02-13 dead DeAndre Liggins Guard SEC Freshman of the Week Pre-Season All-SEC Team Player Position First Patrick Patterson Forward Second Jodie Meeks Guard All-SEC Class of 2009 signees The signees who formed the 2009-10 recruiting classes are considered one of the best all-time recruiting classes Mike DeCourcy http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2009-05-19/with-wall-kentucky-could-have-all-time-recruiting-class With Wall Kentucky could have all-time recruiting class 19 May 2009 15 April 2010 SportingNews.com 22 May 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100522094109/http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2009-05-19/with-wall-kentucky-could-have-all-time-recruiting-class dead no yes 2009 John Wall PG Raleigh, North Carolina Word of God 6 4 184 2009-05-18 5 5 98 DeMarcus Cousins PF Mobile, Alabama LeFlore 6 9 250 2009-04-08 5 5 98 Daniel Orton C Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Bishop McGuinness 6 10 265 2008-10-12 5 5 97 Eric Bledsoe G Birmingham, Alabama Parker 6 1 180 2009-05-06 5 4 90 Jon Hood SG Madisonville, Kentucky Madisonville-North Hopkins 6 6 185 2008-05-25 4 4 91 Darnell Dodson G/F Greenbelt, Maryland Miami-Dade CC 6 7 215 2009-04-22 4 3 95 2009 Kentucky 2009 Basketball Commitments 2009 Kentucky Basketball Commits ESPN kentucky 572 96 1 1 1 2009-04-28 yes References Category:Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball seasons Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky Wildcats Category:Long stubs with short prose