2008–09 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

For Tennessee's women's team in the same season, see 2008–09 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team.
2008–09 Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball
Conference Southeastern Conference East
2008–09 record 21–13 (10–6 SEC)
Head coach Bruce Pearl
Assistant coach Tony Jones
Assistant coach Steve Forbes
Assistant coach Jason Shay
Home arena Thompson-Boling Arena
Seasons
« 2007–08 2009–10 »
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
#21 LSU 13   3   .813     27   8   .771
Auburn 10   6   .625     24   12   .667
Miss. 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 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team[1] represented the University of Tennessee in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was the fourth season for Bruce Pearl as the Volunteers' head coach. The team, a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, played its home games at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Contents

Preseason

The 2007–08 Volunteers finished the season 31–5 overall with a 14–2 mark in conference play. They won their first outright SEC regular season men's basketball championship in 41 years[2]. In postseason play, the Volunteers earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The team went on to lose in the Sweet Sixteen to the Louisville Cardinals and finished ranked at #7 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.[3]

The Vols lost three seniors from their team during the off-season: Chris Lofton, Jajuan Smith, and Jordan Howell. Also, sophomore forward Duke Crews and sophomore point guard Ramar Smith were dismissed from the team for a combination of "violations of the University of Tennessee’s substance-abuse policy and academic shortcomings." [4]

On November 3, 2008, the SEC released the rosters for the All-SEC first and second teams. Junior forward Tyler Smith was chosen for both SEC Player of the Year and first team All-SEC. Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince were selected for the second team All-SEC, thus tying Tennessee with LSU for the most All-SEC selections (3).[5]

Recruiting

Bruce Pearl was able to pull together a highly ranked recruiting class for the 2008–09 season. The class included: Emmanuel Negedu, rated 13th among power forwards in the Class of 2008 by Rivals.com; Renaldo Woolridge, the 11th ranked small forward; Bobby Maze, a junior college guard averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game; and Scotty Hopson, a McDonald's All-American and ranked 5th overall by Rivals.com. The class also includes point guard Daniel West and center Philip Jurick. Rivals.com ranked the class as 7th best in the nation.[6][7]

2008–09 Roster

Name Number Position Height Weight Year Hometown Former School
Renaldo Wooldridge 0 G/F 6–8 208 Freshman North Hollywood, California Harvard-Westlake
Tyler Smith 1 F 6–7 215 Junior Pulaski, Tennessee Iowa
Bobby Maze 3 PG 6–2 185 Junior Suitland, Maryland Hutchinson (Kan.) C.C.
Wayne Chism 4 F/C 6–9 242 Junior Jackson, Tennessee Bolivar Central
Emmanuel Negedu 5 PF 6–7 240 Freshman Kaduna, Nigeria Brewster (N.H.) Academy
Quinn Cannington 11 SG 6–4 165 Junior Knoxville, Tennessee Fulton
Steven Pearl 22 SF 6–5 228 Sophomore Knoxville, Tennessee West
Cameron Tatum 23 G/F 6–6 196 Redshirt freshman Lithonia, Georgia The Patterson School
Tanner Wild 24 PG 6–0 170 Senior Huntington, West Virginia Huntington
Josh Tabb 25 PG 6–4 196 Junior Carbondale, Illinois Harmony Community Prep
J.P. Prince 30 SG 6–7 205 Junior Memphis, Tennessee Arizona
Scotty Hopson 32 SG 6–7 185 Freshman Hopkinsville, Kentucky University Heights
Brian Williams 33 C 6–10 267 Sophomore Bronx, New York Harmony Community Prep
Ryan Childress 34 PF 6–9 235 Senior Cincinnati, Ohio Moeller
Phillip Jurick 44 C 6–10 250 Freshman Chattanooga, Tennessee East Ridge

[8]

Schedule and Results

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Record
Mon, Nov 3* 7:00 PM Indianapolis #14 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN W 73–87 
Fri, Nov 7* 7:30 PM Tusculum #14 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN W 51–82 
Regular season
Sat, Nov 15* 7:00 PM Chattanooga #14 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN SportSouth W 75–114  1–0
Tues, Nov 18* 7:00 PM UT-Martin #14 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN SportSouth W 64–91  2–0
Fri, Nov 21* 8:30 PM at MTSU #14 Murphy Center • Murfreesboro, TN CSS W 76–66  3–0
Thur, Nov 27* 12:00 PM vs. Siena #12 Disney Wide World of Sports Complex • Orlando, FL
(Old Spice Classic)		 ESPN2 W 78–64  4–0
Fri, Nov 28* 1:00 PM vs. #16 Georgetown #12 Disney Wide World of Sports Complex • Orlando, FL
(Old Spice Classic)		 ESPN2 W 90–78  5–0
Sun, Nov 30* 7:30 PM vs. #10 Gonzaga #12 Disney Wide World of Sports Complex • Orlando, FL
(Old Spice Classic)		 ESPN2 L 74–83  5–1
Wed, Dec 3* 7:00 PM UNC-Asheville #10 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN SportSouth W 69–87  6–1
Sat, Dec 13* 12:00 PM at Temple #8 Liacouras Center • Philadelphia, PA ESPN L 72–88  6–2
Tues, Dec 16* 9:30 PM vs. #23 Marquette #16 Sommet Center • Nashville, TN ESPN W 68–80  7–2
Sat, Dec 20* 3:00 PM Belmont #16 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN SportSouth W 77–79  8–2
Mon, Dec 29* 7:30 PM Louisiana-Lafeyette #14 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN W 62–89  9–2
Sat, Jan 3* 2:00 PM at Kansas #14 Allen Fieldhouse • Lawrence, KS ESPN L 85–92  9–3
Wed, Jan 7* 9:00 PM Gonzaga #15 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN ESPN2 L 89–79 OT 9–4
Sat, Jan 10 12:00 PM at Georgia #15 Stegeman Coliseum • Athens, GA Raycom W 86–77  10–4
Tues, Jan 13 9:00 PM Kentucky #24 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN ESPN L 90–72  10–5
Sat, Jan 17 6:00 PM South Carolina #24 Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN FSN South W 82–79  11–5
Tues, Jan 20 9:00 PM at Vanderbilt Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, TN ESPN W 76–63  12–5
Sat, Jan 24* 3:30 PM Memphis Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN CBS L 54–52  12–6
Wed, Jan 28 8:00 PM LSU Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN Raycom L 79–73  12–7
Sat, Jan 31 9:00 PM Florida Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN ESPN W 63–79  13–7
Wed, Feb 4 8:00 PM at Arkansas Bud Walton Arena • Fayetteville, AR Raycom W 72–70  14–7
Sat, Feb 7 1:00 PM at Auburn Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum • Auburn, AL Raycom L 78–77  14–8
Wed, Feb 11 8:00 PM Georgia Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN Raycom W 48–79  15–8
Sat, Feb 14 3:00 PM Vanderbilt Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN Raycom W 69–50  16–8
Wed, Feb 18 8:00 PM at Ole Miss Tad Smith Coliseum • Oxford, MS Raycom L 81–65  16–9
Sat, Feb 21 1:00 PM at Kentucky Rupp Arena • Lexington, KY CBS L 77–58  16–10
Wed, Feb 25 9:00 PM Miss State Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN Raycom W 81–76  17–10
Sun, Mar 1 7:45 PM at Florida O'Connell Center • Gainesville, FL CBS W 79–75  18–10
Thurs, Mar 5 2:00 PM South Carolina Colonial Life Arena • Columbia, SC ESPN/ESPN2 W 87–70  19–10
Sun, Mar 8 12:00 PM at Alabama Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN CBS L 70–67  19–11
SEC Tournament
Mar 13, 2009 7:30 PM vs. Alabama St. Pete Times Forum • Tampa, FL
(SEC Quarterfinals)		 Raycom W 86–62  20–11
Mar 14, 2009 3:15 PM vs. Auburn St. Pete Times Forum • Tampa, FL
(SEC Semifinals)		 ESPN2 W 94–85  21–11
Mar 15, 2009 1:00 PM vs. Miss State St. Pete Times Forum • Tampa, FL
(SEC Championship Game)		 CBS L 64–61  21–12
NCAA Tournament
Mar 20, 2009 12:25 PM vs. Oklahoma State University of Dayton Arena • Dayton, Ohio
(1st Round NCAA Tournament)		 CBS L 77–75  21–13
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time [9].

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The "Volunteers" nickname is exclusive to men's athletics at the school. Women's teams and athletes are formally referred to as "Lady Volunteers", but the short form of "Lady Vols" is more widely used (the university officially approves the use of both forms).
  2. ^ http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2007-2008/teamcume.html
  3. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?seasonYear=2008
  4. ^ http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2008/may/02/duke-crews-and-ramar-smith-not-return/
  5. ^ http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/110308aaa.html
  6. ^ http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=839831#rank
  7. ^ http://tennessee.scout.com/2/753223.html
  8. ^ http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/tenn-m-baskbl-mtt.html
  9. ^ http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/tenn-m-baskbl-sched.html
Eastern Division
Western Division
Tournament