# 2008–09 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 2008–09 South Carolina men's basketball team represented University of South Carolina. The head coach was Darrin Horn, who was in his first season with the Gamecocks. The team played its home games in the 18,000-seat Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina. The Gamecocks won the SEC Eastern Division Championship.

## Regular season

On November 14, 2008, Carolina defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 89–76 to win the first game of the Darrin Horn Era at USC.
On December 2, 2008, Carolina defeated Princeton 84–58, handing the Tigers their worst defeat in Jadwin Gym since it opened in 1969.
On January 2, 2009, Carolina defeated #19 Baylor, 85–84.
On January 21, 2009, Carolina defeated #24 Florida, 70–69.
On January 31, 2009, Carolina defeated #24 Kentucky, 78–77, the Gamecocks' second win in history at Rupp Arena.
On February 25, 2009, Carolina defeated Kentucky 77–59, setting a school-record for blocked shots with 16, and sweeping the season series with the Wildcats for only the second time (1997) since joining the SEC.

## Roster

| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Position | Year | Hometown |
| 21 | Dominique Archie | 6'7" | 200 | F | JR | Augusta, Georgia, United States |
| 31 | Evaldas Baniulis | 6'7" | 210 | F | JR | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| 55 | Mitchell Carter | 6'10" | 260 | C | JR | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States |
| 12 | Branden Conrad | 6'2" | 180 | G | SR | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States |
| 2 | Devan Downey | 5'9" | 175 | G | JR | Chester, South Carolina, United States |
| 20 | Zam Fredrick | 6'0" | 203 | G | SR | St. Matthews, South Carolina, United States |
| 24 | Mike Holmes | 6'7" | 230 | F/C | SO | Bishopville, South Carolina, United States |
| 44 | Sam Muldrow | 6'9" | 216 | F | SO | Florence, South Carolina, United States |
| 5 | Brandis Raley-Ross | 6'2" | 193 | G | JR | Gastonia, North Carolina, United States |
| 25 | Austin Steed | 6'8" | 215 | F | SO | Hephzibah, Georgia, United States |
| 14 | Robert Wilder | 6'1" | 185 | G | JR | Chapin, South Carolina, United States |

### 2009 Commitments

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ramon Galloway PG | Palm Beach Gardens, FL | William T. Dwyer HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 13, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Lakeem Jackson SF | Arden, NC | Christ School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jul 16, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| Johndre Jefferson PF | Niceville, FL | Northwest Florida State College | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Mar 5, 2009 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Steve Spinella SG | Pennsauken, NJ | Apex Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jan 23, 2009 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| 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: "South Carolina Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2009 South Carolina Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Fri, Nov. 7* 7:00pm | Kentucky Wesleyan Exhibition | W 75–55 | | Colonial Life Arena (3,053) Columbia, SC |
| Regular season ||||||
| Fri, Nov. 14* 7:00pm, SportsSouth | Jacksonville State | W 89–76 | 1–0 | Colonial Life Arena (11,439) Columbia, SC |
| Sun, Nov. 16* 4:00pm, SportsSouth | Winthrop | W 86–63 | 2–0 | Colonial Life Arena (7,231) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Nov. 22* 1:00pm, SportsSouth | USC Upstate | W 75–53 | 3–0 | Colonial Life Arena (5,573) Columbia, SC |
| Tue, Nov. 25* 7:00pm, SportsSouth | Gardner-Webb | W 85–70 | 4–0 | Colonial Life Arena (9,545) Columbia, SC |
| Fri, Nov. 28* 7:00pm, CSS | at College of Charleston | L 80–82 $^{OT}$ | 4–1 | Carolina First Arena (5,032) Charleston, SC |
| Tue, Dec. 2* 7:00pm | at Princeton | W 84–58 | 5–1 | Jadwin Gymnasium (1,984) Princeton, NJ |
| Fri, Dec. 5* 6:00pm | Furman | W 72–48 | 6–1 | Colonial Life Arena (9,031) Columbia, SC |
| Tue, Dec. 16* 8:00pm, SportsSouth | North Carolina Central | W 90–43 | 7–1 | Colonial Life Arena (9,065) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Dec. 20* 5:00pm, SportsSouth | The Citadel | W 80–66 | 8–1 | Colonial Life Arena (9,493) Columbia, SC |
| Tue, Dec. 23* 7:00pm, SportsSouth | Presbyterian | W 75–56 | 9–1 | Colonial Life Arena (9,404) Columbia, SC |
| Tue, Dec. 30* 7:00pm, FSN | No. 16 Clemson Carolina-Clemson Rivalry | L 87–98 | 9–2 | Colonial Life Arena (16,168) Columbia, SC |
| Fri, Jan. 2* 5:30pm, FSN | at No. 19 Baylor | W 85–84 | 10–2 | Ferrell Center (6,149) Waco, TX |
| Tue, Dec. 30* 7:00pm, SportsSouth | Wofford | W 78–61 | 11–2 | Colonial Life Arena (9,165) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Jan. 10 7:00pm | Auburn | W 68–56 | 12–2 (1–0) | Colonial Life Arena (11,725) Columbia, SC |
| Wed, Jan. 14 8:00pm, CST | at LSU | L 68–85 | 12–3 (1–1) | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (11,393) Baton Rouge, LA |
| Sat, Jan. 17 6:00pm, FSN | at Tennessee | L 79–82 | 12–4 (1–2) | Thompson-Boling Arena (20,203) Knoxville, TN |
| Wed, Jan. 21 7:00pm, Raycom | No. 24 Florida | W 70–69 | 13–4 (2–2) | Colonial Life Arena (12,825) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Jan. 24 8:00pm, FSN | Mississippi | W 82–71 | 14–4 (3–2) | Colonial Life Arena (14,527) Columbia, SC |
| Wed, Jan. 28 7:00pm | Vanderbilt | W 86–76 | 15–4 (4–2) | Colonial Life Arena (12,766) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Jan. 31 3:00pm, Raycom | at No. 24 Kentucky | W 78–77 | 16–4 (5–2) | Rupp Arena (24,322) Lexington, KY |
| Tue, Feb. 3 9:00pm, ESPN | at Florida | L 93–97 | 16–5 (5–3) | O'Connell Center (11,152) Gainesville, FL |
| Sat, Feb. 7 7:00pm, FSN | Georgia | W 79–68 | 17–5 (6–3) | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Feb. 14 3:00pm, Raycom | at Alabama | W 75–73 | 18–5 (7–3) | Coleman Coliseum (10,224) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Wed, Feb. 18 8:00pm | at Mississippi State | L 70–75 | 18–6 (7–4) | Humphrey Coliseum (7,369) Starkville, MS |
| Sat, Feb. 21 7:00pm | Arkansas | W 82–78 $^{OT}$ | 19–6 (8–4) | Colonial Life Arena (16,507) Columbia, SC |
| Wed, Feb. 25 7:00pm, Raycom | Kentucky | W 77–59 | 20–6 (9–4) | Colonial Life Arena (16,035) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Feb. 28 9:00pm, ESPNU | at Vanderbilt | L 83–96 | 20–7 (9–5) | Memorial Gymnasium (13,963) Nashville, TN |
| Thu, Mar. 5 7:00pm, ESPN | Tennessee | L 70–86 | 20–8 (9–6) | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC |
| Sat, Mar. 7 7:00pm, Raycom | at Georgia | W 68–51 | 21–8 (10–6) | Stegeman Coliseum (7,110) Athens, GA |
| Postseason ||||||
| Thu, Mar. 12 3:15pm, Raycom | vs. Mississippi State SEC tournament | L 68–82 | 21–9 | St. Pete Times Forum (13,306) Tampa, FL |
| Tue, Mar. 17* 7:00pm, ESPN2 | Davidson NIT • First Round | L 63–70 | 21–10 | Colonial Life Arena (7,251) Columbia, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from Coaches Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Awards
### SEC Post-Season Awards

* Devan Downey – First Team All-SEC, All-Defensive Team
* Dominique Archie – Second Team All-SEC, All-Defensive Team
* Zam Fredrick, Jr. – Second Team All-SEC
* Brandis Raley-Ross – Sixth Man of the Year

### SEC Pre-Season Awards

* Devan Downey – First Team All-SEC
* Dominique Archie – Second Team All-SEC

### SEC Player of the Week

* Devan Downey – February 2, 2009