# 2008–09 Florida Gators men's basketball team

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

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: Rivals: 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: Rivals: 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: Rivals: 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: Rivals: 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: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Overall Recruiting Rankings: Scout – 9 Rivals – 10 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 |