2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball
Conference	The Summit League
2008–09 record	23–13 (13–5 Summit)
Head coach	Greg Kampe
Assistant coach	Jeff Tungate
Assistant coach	Darren Sorenson
Assistant coach	Saddi Washington
Home arena	Athletics Center O'Rena
Seasons « 2007–08 2009–10 »

2008–09 The Summit League men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
North Dakota St. †	16		2		.889			26		7		.788
Oral Roberts	14		4		.778			16		15		.516
Oakland	13		5		.722			23		13		.639
IUPUI	9		9		.500			16		14		.533
Southern Utah	8		10		.444			11		20		.355
IPFW	8		10		.444			13		17		.433
South Dakota St.	7		11		.389			13		20		.394
Centenary	6		12		.333			8		23		.258
Western Illinois	6		12		.333			9		20		.310
UMKC	3		15		.167			7		24		.226
† The Summit League Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008–2009 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball team representing Oakland University.

Oakland was picked to finish third in The Summit League's preseason poll. Oral Roberts was voted to finish first and North Dakota State second. However, only eight votes separated the three teams. Senior forward Derick Nelson and junior guard Johnathon Jones were named to the Preseason All-League First Team. Senior guard Erik Kangas was named to the Second Team.^[1]

Prior to the first game of the year against Cleveland State, senior forward Derick Nelson suffered a foot injury and sat out most of the season. Nelson played in two games against Eastern Michigan and Michigan State, but did not record a point and took a medical redshirt.^[2] Oakland lost their first game against CSU and defeated Pacific-10 Conference opponent Oregon for the second year in a row.

Contents 1 Roster 2 Awards 3 Milestones 4 Schedule 5 See also 6 References

Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown (Previous school)
34	Keith Benson	C	6'11"	225	So.	Farmington Hills, MI (Country Day)
21	Ricky Bieszki	G	6'2"	190	Sr.	Shelby Township, MI (Notre Dame Preparatory)
22	Blake Cushingberry	G	6'4"	225	Fr.	Romeo, MI (Romeo)
4	Will Hudson	F	6'9"	225	So.	Madison, WI (Middleton)
23	Johnathon Jones	G	5'11"	165	Jr.	Okemos, MI (Okemos)
30	Erik Kangas	G	6'3"	205	Sr.	DeWitt, MI (DeWitt)
32	John Kast	G	6'2"	175	Jr.	Clarkston, MI (Clarkston)
31	Drew Maynard	G	6'7"	220	Fr.	Lake Orion, MI (Lake Orion)
20	Ilija Milutinovic	C	7'0"	255	Fr.	Niš, Serbia (Milestone Christian Academy (MO))
1	Derick Nelson *	F	6'5"	235	Sr.	Lansing, MI (Bridgton Academy)
12	Matt Samuels	G	6'0"	215	Fr.	Washington, D.C. (Patterson)
44	Jay Thames *	F	6'9"	220	Fr.	Port Huron, MI (Port Huron Northern)
45	Dan Waterstradt	C	6'10"	240	Sr.	Dearborn Heights, MI (Rutgers)
2	Larry Wright *	G	6'2"	172	Jr.	Saginaw, MI (St. John's)

* Redshirting 2008–2009 season

Awards

• Keith Benson
  • Summit League Player of the Week
    • Week 12 – Averaged 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.5 blocks, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game and shot 82.4 percent (14–17) for the week.^[3]
• Johnathon Jones
  • Summit League Player of the Week (2)
    • Week 2 – Averaged 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals against Oregon, Syracuse and Iowa.^[4]
    • Week 13 – Averaging 15.0 points and 12.5 assists per game against Oral Roberts and Centenary.^[5]
• Erik Kangas
  • Summit League Player of the Week (2)
    • Week 10 – Career-high 39-point game that included 8–13 shooting from three point range in victory at IPFW.^[6]
    • Week 11 – Averaged 30.0 points and 7.5 three-pointers per game. Kangas shot 65% from three-point range. Kangas was the first player to earn back-to-back player of the week awards since the 2004–2005 season.^[7]

Milestones

• Erik Kangas set the Oakland record for career three-pointers made
• Keith Benson set the Oakland record for single-game blocks with eight
• Keith Benson set the Oakland record for single-season blocks

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Record
11/15/08*	7:00pm	at Cleveland State		Wolstein Center • Cleveland, OH		L 58–55	2,078	0–1
11/17/08*	10:00pm	at Oregon		McArthur Court • Eugene, OR	CSN Northwest	W 82–79 OT	7,924	1–1
11/21/08*	7:00pm	at Syracuse		Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	Time Warner Sports	L 86–66	18,932	1–2
11/23/08*	6:05pm	at Iowa		Carver-Hawkeye Arena • Iowa City, IA (Las Vegas Invitational)	Big Ten Network	L 66–57	8,079	1–3
11/25/08*	8:00pm	at Kansas State		Bramlage Coliseum • Manhattan, KS (Las Vegas Invitational)	FSN Kansas City	L 83–64	8,356	1–4
11/28/08*	6:30pm	vs. Delaware State		Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV (Las Vegas Invitational)		W 75–70	2,067	2–4
11/29/08*	5:00pm	vs. Southeast Missouri State		Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV (Las Vegas Invitational)		W 81–63	N/A	3–4
12/2/08	9:00pm	at Southern Utah		Centrum Arena • Cedar City, UT		L 82–66	2,059	3–5 (0–1)
12/4/08	8:00pm	at UMKC		Municipal Auditorium • Kansas City, MO	Metro Sports	W 84–78	1,412	4–5 (1–1)
12/7/08*	1:00pm	Toledo		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 67–58	2,315	5–5
12/14/08*	4:00pm	Rochester		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 88–54	2,125	6–5
12/18/08*	8:00pm	at Green Bay		Resch Center • Green Bay, WI	WACY	W 79–76 OT	2,587	7–5
12/20/08*	4:00pm	vs. Michigan		The Palace of Auburn Hills • Auburn Hills, MI	FSN Detroit	L 89–76	10,113	7–6
12/22/08*	7:00pm	at Eastern Michigan		Convocation Center • Ypsilanti, MI		W 66–53	389	8–6
12/27/08*	5:00pm	vs. #11 Michigan State		The Palace of Auburn Hills • Auburn Hills, MI	Fox College Sports	L 82–66	15,361	8–7
12/31/08	4:00pm	South Dakota State		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 86–81	2,165	9–7 (2–1)
1/2/09	7:00pm	North Dakota State		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 77–76	2,665	10–7 (3–1)
1/8/09	9:00pm	at Centenary		Gold Dome • Shreveport, LA		L 80–60	775	10–8 (3–2)
1/10/09	8:05pm	at Oral Roberts		Mabee Center • Tulsa, OK	Fox College Sports	L 68–65 OT	5,354	10–9 (3–3)
1/17/09	7:00pm	at IPFW		Allen County War Memorial Coliseum • Fort Wayne, IN		W 93–88	2,650	11–9 (4–3)
1/22/09	7:00pm	IUPUI		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI	FSN Detroit	W 75–57	2,805	12–9 (5–3)
1/24/09	6:00pm	Western Illinois		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 86–46	3,125	13–9 (6–3)
1/29/09	8:30pm	at North Dakota State		Bison Sports Arena • Fargo, ND		L 81–71	4,552	13–10 (6–4)
1/31/09	8:30pm	at South Dakota State		Frost Arena • Brookings, SD		L 74–68 OT	5,740	13–11 (6–5)
2/5/09	7:00pm	Oral Roberts		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 81–69	2,355	14–11 (7–5)
2/7/09	6:00pm	Centenary		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 78–65	3,855	15–11 (8–5)
2/14/09	6:00pm	IPFW		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 83–72	2,905	16–11 (9–5)
2/19/09	8:00pm	at Western Illinois		Western Hall • Macomb, IL	WIU TV	W 77–52	878	17–11 (10–5)
2/21/09	7:00pm	at IUPUI		IUPUI Gymnasium • Indianapolis, IN		W 81–76	1,215	18–11 (11–5)
2/26/09	7:00pm	Southern Utah		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 78–62	2,365	19–11 (12–5)
2/28/09	6:00pm	UMKC		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI		W 100–88	3,875	20–11 (13–5)
3/8/09	9:30pm	vs. IPFW		Sioux Falls Arena • Sioux Falls, SD (Summit League conference tournament quarterfinals)		W 75–62	2,411	21–11
3/9/09	9:30pm	vs. South Dakota State		Sioux Falls Arena • Sioux Falls, SD (Summit League conference tournament semifinals)		W 74–56	5,986	22–11
3/10/09	8:00pm	vs. North Dakota State		Sioux Falls Arena • Sioux Falls, SD (Summit League conference tournament finals)	ESPN2	L 66–64	3,804	22–12
3/17/09*	7:00pm	Kent State		Athletics Center O'Rena • Rochester, MI (CollegeInsider.com Tournament first round)		W 80–74	2,155	23–12
3/23/09*	8:00pm	at Bradley		Carver Arena • Peoria, IL (CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals)		L 76–75	5,007	23–13
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

See also

• Oakland University
• Oakland Golden Grizzlies
• Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball

References

Oakland University Athletics Athletics Center O'Rena • Golden Grizzlies • Men's basketball (2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11) • The Summit League Campus Meadow Brook Hall History Jesse R. Pitts People Beckie Francis • Greg Kampe • Abdi Kusow • Richard Stamps