2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Golden Gophers logo.svg Big Ten Conference Big Ten 22–11 9–9 Tubby Smith Ron Jirsa Saul Smith Vince Taylor Williams Arena NCAA tournament first round vs. Texas L 76–62 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".https://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-madness17-2008oct17,0,3319514.story No 'Midnight Madness' for UCLA, USC basketball teams 2008-12-01 2008-10-17 Los Angeles Times Pucin, Diane The Gophers started the season on a twelve-game winning streak for the first time since the 1948–49 season.http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=3637849 Gophers Finish Non-Conference Slate Undefeated 2008-12-29 2008-12-28 https://web.archive.org/web/20090103005755/http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=3637849 3 January 2009 dead The team became ranked on December 22, the first time the team had been ranked since the 2002–03 season.http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=3636645 Gophers Enter Poll For First Time Since 2002 - Gophersports.com Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics 2008-12-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20081227014947/http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=3636645 2008-12-27 dead 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.http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13633550/minnesota-standout-royce-white-signs-with-iowa-st Minnesota standout Royce White signs with Iowa St Associated Press CBS Sports July 12, 2010 August 5, 2010 Roster #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)0Al Nolen6'1"180GSo.Minneapolis, MN, U.S.Minneapolis Henry HS1Paul Carter6'8"195FSo.Little Rock, AR, U.S.Little Rock Mills HSMissouri State-West Plains3Kevin Payton6'5"215G/FRJr.Camden, NJ, U.S.Camden HS4Travis Busch6'4"220G/FJr.Mounds View, MN, U.S.Mounds View HS5Devoe Joseph6'3"170GFr.Ajax, ON, CanadaPickering HS11Jonathan Williams6'9"250GSr.St. Cloud, MN, U.S.Notre Dame PrepSt. Cloud Apollo HS20Lawrence Westbrook6'0"195GJr.Chandler, AZ, U.S.Winchendon Prep22Devron Bostick6'5"210GJr.Racine, WI, U.S.St. Catharine's HSSW Illinois24Blake Hoffarber6'4"200GSo.Minnetonka, MN, U.S.Hopkins HS33Jamal Abu-Shamala6'5"210G/FSr.Shakopee, MN, U.S.Shakopee HS34Damian Johnson6'7"195FRJr.Thibodaux, LA, U.S.Thibodaux HS45Colton Iverson6'10"235F/CFr.Yankton, SD, U.S.Yankton HS50Ralph Sampson III6'11"220F/CFr.Duluth, GA, U.S.Northview HS Incoming signees no no 2008 Ralph Sampson III C Duluth, Georgia Northview HS 6 11 220 2007-10-25 4 4 89 Devoe Joseph SG Ajax, Ontario Picking HS 6 3 170 2007-11-21 4 4 76 Colton Iverson PF/C Yankton, South Dakota Yankton HS 6 10 238 2007-09-19 4 3 88 Paul Carter F West Plains, Missouri Missouri State – West Plains 6 8 193 2007-08-21 3 3 n/a Devron Bostick SF Belleville, Illinois Southwestern Illinois 6 5 213 2007-10-11 3 3 n/a 2008 Minnesota Commit List for 2008 Men's Basketball Recruiting ESPN – Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball Recruiting 2008 minnesota 176 135 27 23 2008-11-20 yes 2008–09 Schedule and Results |- !colspan="8" style="text-align: center; background:#800000" | Exhibition November 3, 2008 7:00 pm yes St. Cloud State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 88–80 November 6, 2008 7:00 pm yes Northern State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 92–62 |- ! colspan="8" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|Regular Season November 14, 2008 7:00 pm yes Concordia, St. Paul Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN NABC Classic 76–51 1–0 November 15, 2008 7:00 pm yes Bowling Green Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN NABC Classic 68–61 2–0 November 16, 2008 7:00 yes Georgia State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN NABC Classic 60–52 3–0 November 22, 2008 9:00 yes yes Colorado State Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO The Mtn. 72–71 4–0 November 26, 2008 7:30 yes Eastern Washington Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 88–67 5–0 November 29, 2008 1:00 yes North Dakota State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 90–76 6–0 December 2, 2008 8:30 yes Virginia Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN ACC–Big Ten Challenge ESPN2 66–56 7–0 December 6, 2008 1:00 yes Cornell Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 71–54 8–0 December 10, 2008 8:00 yes South Dakota State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 74–60 9–0 December 20, 2008 1:00 yes yes Louisville 9 University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ Stadium Shootout FSN North 70–64 10–0 December 23, 2008 8:00 yes 23 Southeastern Louisiana Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN ESPNU 80–71 11–0 December 28, 2008 7:00 yes 23 High Point Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN ESPNU 82–56 12–0 |- ! colspan="9" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|Big Ten Regular Season December 31, 2008 11:00amhttp://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=3631425 Gophers/Spartans Tip on Dec. 31 Changed to 11 a.m. - Gophersports.com Official Web Site of University of Minnesota Athletics 2008-12-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20081214113420/http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=3631425 2008-12-14 dead 21 Michigan State 10 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 58–70 12–1 0–1 January 3, 2009 11:00am 21 Ohio State 24 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 68–59 13–1 1–1 January 8, 2009 6:00 yes 22 Iowa Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA ESPN2 52–49 14–1 2–1 January 11, 2009 2:30 22 Penn State Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 79–59 15–1 3–1 January 15, 2009 8:00 yes 18 Wisconsin Kohl Center Madison, WI BTN 78–74 (OT) 16–1 4–1 January 18, 2009 1:00 yes 18 Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL BTN 65–74 16–2 4–2 January 22, 2009 6:00 21 Purdue 18 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN ESPN2 62–70 16–3 4–3 January 25, 2009 11:00am yes 21 Indiana Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN BTN 67–63 17–3 5–3 January 29, 2009 8:00 Illinois 19 Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 59–36 18–3 6–3 February 4, 2009 7:30 yes 19 Michigan State 13 Breslin Center East Lansing, MI BTN 47–76 18–4 6–4 February 7, 2009 7:00 yes 19 Ohio State Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH BTN 58–64 18–5 6–5 February 10, 2009 8:00 Indiana Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 62–54 19–5 7–5 February 14, 2009 12:30 yes Penn State Bryce Jordan Center State College, PA BTN 63–68 19–6 7–6 February 19, 2009 6:00 yes Michigan Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI BTN 74–62 19–7 7–7 February 22, 2009 6:00 Northwestern Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 72–45 20–7 8–7 February 26, 2009 6:00 yes Illinois 20 Assembly Hall Champaign, IL BTN 41–52 20–8 8–8 March 4, 2009 7:30 Wisconsin Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN BTN 51–46 21–8 9–8 March 7, 2009 11:00am Michigan Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN ESPN 64–67 21–9 9–9 |- ! colspan="9" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|2009 Big Ten tournament March 12, 2009 11:00am yes yes 8 Northwestern 9 Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN First Round BTN 66–53 22–9 March 13, 2009 11:00am yes yes 8 Michigan State 7 1 Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN Quarterfinal ESPN 56–64 22–10 |- ! colspan="9" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|2009 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament March 19, 2009 6:10 yes yes 10 E Texas 7 E Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC First Round CBS 62–76 22–11 Central Time Rankings 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 References Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball seasons Minnesota Minnesota Category:2008 in sports in Minnesota Category:2009 in sports in Minnesota