# 2008–09 Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team represented Texas A&M University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by second-year head coach Mark Turgeon, who coached the team to a 25–11 record and an NCAA tournament appearance in his first season.
The Aggies went 14–1 in nonconference play, with wins over Alabama, Arizona, and LSU; the one loss was handed by Tulsa.

## Leading into the season

Josh Carter and Bryan Davis received preseason Big 12 honorable mention. The team did not make the top 25 of the preseason AP or Coaches polls, though received votes.
During the 2009 signing period, the Aggies signed Naji Hibbert, Khris Middleton, Kourtney Roberson, and Ray Turner, who are all listed in the Rivals.com Top 150 prospects for the class of 2009. Hibbert, a Rivals four-star, is the highest-ranked recruit at No. 88. The recruiting class placed 23rd in the Rivals' early signing period national rankings compiled on 12 November 2008. ESPN's recruiting services ranked the class 25th in November as well.

### 2008 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| James Blasczyk PF | Friendswood, TX | Friendswood HS | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jun 23, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 71 ||||||
| Dashan Harris PG | Montverde, FL | Montverde Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 17, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| David Loubeau PF | Davie, FL | Westlake Preparatory School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 10, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Texas A&M 2008 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved 3 December 2008. "2008 Texas A&M Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved 3 December 2008. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 3 December 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved 3 December 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 3 December 2008. ||||||

## Season accomplishments

* In the Florida A&M game, the team set a Big 12 game record after shooting all 20 of its free throws. Chinemelu Elonu recorded six blocked shots, the third most in school history. Donald Sloan also scored a season-high of 21 points.
* Three players—Chinemelu Elonu, Bryson Graham, and Nathan Walkup—made the season's Academic All-Big 12 team. Elonu made the first team (GPA of 3.20+) while Graham and Walkup made the second team (GPA of 3.00–3.19).
* Josh Carter became an All-Big 12 Third Team selection, while Derrick Roland was selected to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/05/08* 7:30 p.m. | Texas A&M–Kingsville | W 72–59 | 0–0 | Reed Arena (7,963) College Station, TX |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/16/08* 5:00 p.m. | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 76–47 | 1–0 | Reed Arena (7,354) College Station, TX |
| 11/18/08* 7:00 p.m. | Stephen F. Austin | W 55–48 | 2–0 | Reed Arena (7,595) College Station, TX |
| 11/21/08* 7:00 p.m. | Jackson State South Padre Invitational | W 96–78 | 3–0 | Reed Arena (7,866) College Station, TX |
| 11/25/08* 7:00 p.m. | UNC Wilmington South Padre Invitational | W 84–65 | 4–0 | Reed Arena (6,881) College Station, TX |
| 11/28/08* 7:30 p.m., FCS | vs. Tulsa South Padre Invitational | L 56-67 | 4–1 | South Padre Convention Centre (N/A) South Padre |
| 11/29/08* TBA | vs. Kent State South Padre Invitational | W 77–71 | 5–1 | South Padre Convention Centre (1632) South Padre |
| 12/05/08* 8:30 p.m., ESPNU | Arizona | W 67–66 | 6–1 | Reed Arena (10,393) College Station, TX |
| 12/13/08* 7:00 p.m., ESPN Full Court | at Alabama | W 86–78$^{OT}$ | 7–1 | Coleman Coliseum (9,316) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 12/15/08* 7:00 p.m., FSN | Florida A&M | W 67–57 | 8–1 | Reed Arena (7,334) College Station, TX |
| 12/17/08* 7:00 p.m., FSN | SMU | W 66–56 | 9–1 | Reed Arena (7,888) College Station, TX |
| 12/20/08* 4:00 p.m. | vs. LSU | W 72–61 | 10–1 | Toyota Center (N/A) Houston, TX |
| 12/28/08* 7:00 p.m., FSN | Sam Houston State | W 60–50 | 11–1 | Reed Arena (9,371) College Station, TX |
| 12/31/08* 3:00 p.m. | at Rice | W 72–60 | 12–1 | Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208) Houston, TX |
| 01/03/09* 8:00 p.m. | McNeese State | W 57–52 | 13–1 | Reed Arena (11,029) College Station, TX |
| 01/05/09* 7:00 p.m., FSN | North Dakota | W 76–62 | 14–1 | Reed Arena (6,066) College Station, TX |
| 01/10/09 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | at Oklahoma State | L 61-72 | 14–2 (0–1) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (10,264) Stillwater, OK |
| 01/14/09 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 21 Baylor | W 84–73 | 15–2 (1–1) | Reed Arena (9,537) College Station, TX |
| 01/17/09 1:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 5 Oklahoma | L 63-69 | 15–3 (1–2) | Reed Arena (12,720) College Station, TX |
| 01/19/09 1:00 p.m., ESPN | at Kansas | L 53-73 | 15–4 (1–3) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 01/24/09 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | at No. 15 Texas | L 58-67 | 15–5 (1–4) | Frank Erwin Center (16,755) Austin, TX |
| 01/28/09 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | Texas Tech | W 79–70 | 16–5 (2–4) | Reed Arena (10,273) College Station, TX |
| 01/31/09 1:00 p.m., ESPN | Oklahoma State | W 76–64 | 17–5 (3–4) | Reed Arena (11,178) College Station, TX |
| 02/04/09 8:00 p.m., Big 12 | at No. 2 Oklahoma | L 71-77 | 17–6 (3–5) | Lloyd Noble Center (11,494) Norman, OK |
| 02/07/09 3:00 p.m., Big 12 | Kansas State | L 60-65 | 17–7 (3–6) | Reed Arena (10,367) College Station, TX |
| 02/14/09 5:00 p.m., FSN | at Baylor | L 68-72 | 17–8 (3–7) | Ferrell Center (10,407) Waco, TX |
| 02/16/09 8:00 p.m., ESPN | Texas | W 81–66 | 18–8 (4–7) | Reed Arena (11,321) College Station, TX |
| 02/21/09 5:00 p.m., ESPN Full Court | at Texas Tech | W 79–73 | 19–8 (5–7) | United Spirit Arena (10,551) Lubbock, TX |
| 02/24/09 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | at Nebraska | W 57–55 | 20–8 (6–7) | Bob Devaney Sports Center (9,009) Lincoln, NE |
| 02/28/09 12:30 p.m., Big 12 | Iowa State | W 87–69 | 21–8 (7–7) | Reed Arena (9,701) College Station, TX |
| 03/04/09 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | at Colorado | W 72–66 | 22–8 (8–7) | Coors Events Center (4,973) Boulder, CO |
| 03/07/09 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 12 Missouri | W 96–86 | 23–8 (9–7) | Reed Arena (13,007) College Station, TX |
| Big 12 Tournament ||||||
| 03/11/09 8:30 p.m., Big 12 | vs. Texas Tech Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference tournament | L 83-88 | 23–9 | Ford Center Oklahoma City, OK |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| 03/19/09 11:30 a.m., CBS | vs. BYU First Round | W 79–66 | 24–9 | Wachovia Center Philadelphia, PA |
| 03/21/09 2:35 p.m., CBS | vs. UConn Second Round | L 66-92 | 24–10 | Wachovia Center Philadelphia, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from Coaches Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. ||||||