# 2008–09 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

The 2008–09 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team 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.

## 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. 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.
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."
On November 3, 2008, the SEC released the rosters for the preseason 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).

## 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.

## 2008–09 Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Former School |
| Renaldo Woolridge | 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 |

## Schedule and Results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| November 3* 7:00 pm | No. 14 | Indianapolis | W 87-73 | | Thompson-Boling Arena (18,378) Knoxville, TN |
| November 7* 7:30 pm | No. 14 | Tusculum | W 82-51 | | Thompson-Boling Arena (20,421) Knoxville, TN |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 15* 7:00 pm, SportSouth | No. 14 | Chattanooga | W 114-75 | 1–0 | Thompson-Boling Arena (21,864) Knoxville, TN |
| November 18* 7:00 pm, SportSouth | No. 14 | UT-Martin | W 91-64 | 2–0 | Thompson-Boling Arena (19,761) Knoxville, TN |
| November 21* 8:30 pm, CSS | No. 14 | at MTSU | W 76–66 | 3–0 | Murphy Center (11,802) Murfreesboro, TN |
| November 27* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | vs. Siena Old Spice Classic | W 78–64 | 4–0 | The Milk House (3,357) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 28* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | vs. No. 16 Georgetown Old Spice Classic | W 90–78 | 5–0 | The Milk House (3,926) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 30* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | vs. No. 10 Gonzaga Old Spice Classic | L 74–83 | 5–1 | The Milk House (3,914) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| December 3* 7:00 pm, SportSouth | No. 10 | UNC-Asheville | W 87-69 | 6–1 | Thompson-Boling Arena (19,391) Knoxville, TN |
| December 13* 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | at Temple | L 72–88 | 6–2 | Liacouras Center (8,068) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 16* 9:30 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | vs. No. 23 Marquette | W 80-68 | 7–2 | Sommet Center (9,498) Nashville, TN |
| December 20* 3:00 pm, SportSouth | No. 16 | Belmont | W 79-77 | 8–2 | Thompson-Boling Arena (21,314) Knoxville, TN |
| December 29* 7:30 pm | No. 14 | Louisiana-Lafayette | W 89-62 | 9–2 | Thompson-Boling Arena (21,863) Knoxville, TN |
| January 3* 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 14 | at Kansas | L 85–92 | 9–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| January 7* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 15 | Gonzaga | L 79–89 $^{OT}$ | 9–4 | Thompson-Boling Arena (22,326) Knoxville, TN |
| January 10 12:00 pm, Raycom | No. 15 | at Georgia | W 86–77 | 10–4 | Stegeman Coliseum (8,769) Athens, GA |
| January 13 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 24 | Kentucky | L 72-90 | 10–5 | Thompson-Boling Arena (20,474) Knoxville, TN |
| January 17 6:00 pm, FSN | No. 24 | South Carolina | W 82–79 | 11–5 | Thompson-Boling Arena (20,203) Knoxville, TN |
| January 20 9:00 pm, ESPN | | at Vanderbilt | W 76–63 | 12–5 | Memorial Gymnasium (14,057) Nashville, TN |
| January 24* 3:30 pm, CBS | | Memphis | L 52-54 | 12–6 | Thompson-Boling Arena (21,905) Knoxville, TN |
| January 28 8:00 pm, Raycom | | LSU | L 73–79 | 12–7 | Thompson-Boling Arena (18,526) Knoxville, TN |
| January 31 9:00 pm, ESPN | | Florida ESPN College GameDay | W 79-63 | 13–7 | Thompson-Boling Arena (20,984) Knoxville, TN |
| February 4 8:00 pm, Raycom | | at Arkansas | W 72–70 | 14–7 | Bud Walton Arena (16,064) Fayetteville, AR |
| February 7 1:00 pm, Raycom | | at Auburn | L 77–78 | 14–8 | Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum (6,321) Auburn, AL |
| February 11 8:00 pm, Raycom | | Georgia | W 79-48 | 15–8 | Thompson-Boling Arena (18,623) Knoxville, TN |
| February 14 3:00 pm, Raycom | | Vanderbilt | W 69–50 | 16–8 | Thompson-Boling Arena (20,375) Knoxville, TN |
| February 18 8:00 pm, Raycom | | at Mississippi | L 65–81 | 16–9 | Tad Smith Coliseum (7,250) Oxford, MS |
| February 21 1:00 pm, CBS | | at Kentucky | L 58–77 | 16–10 | Rupp Arena (24,394) Lexington, KY |
| February 25 9:00 pm, Raycom | | Mississippi State | W 81–76 | 17–10 | Thompson-Boling Arena (19,137) Knoxville, TN |
| March 1 2:00 pm, CBS | | at Florida | W 79–75 | 18–10 | O'Connell Center (12,490) Gainesville, FL |
| March 5 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at South Carolina | W 87–70 | 19–10 | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC |
| March 8 12:00 pm, CBS | | Alabama | L 67–70 | 19–11 | Thompson-Boling Arena (20,493) Knoxville, TN |
| SEC Tournament ||||||
| March 13 7:30 pm, Raycom | | vs. Alabama SEC Quarterfinals | W 86–62 | 20–11 | St. Pete Times Forum (14,128) Tampa, FL |
| March 14 3:15 pm, Raycom | | vs. Auburn SEC Semifinals | W 94–85 | 21–11 | St. Pete Times Forum (10,387) Tampa, FL |
| March 15 1:00 pm, CBS | | vs. Mississippi State SEC Championship Game | L 61–64 | 21–12 | St. Pete Times Forum (10,093) Tampa, FL |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 20 12:25 pm, CBS | | vs. Oklahoma State 1st Round NCAA Tournament | L 75–77 | 21–13 | University of Dayton Arena (12,499) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 24 | — | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 21 | 18 т | 25 | — | | | | | | | | | | |