# 2008–09 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2008-09 college basketball season, competing in the Big East Conference. The team was led by ninth-year head coach, Mike Brey, and played their home games in the Edmund P. Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Indiana.

## Preseason
### Roster changes and recruiting

Notre Dame lost senior forward and team captain Rob Kurz to graduation. Freshman guard Ty Proffit left Notre Dame and transferred to another school Notre Dame had two players transfer in and they will sit out this season per NCAA rules for transfer students.
* Scott Martin, a 6-8 swingman, transferred after his freshman season at Purdue. Playing mainly off the bench, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
* Ben Hansbrough, a 6-3 guard, transferred after his sophomore season at Mississippi State, and will have two years of eligibility remaining. The younger brother of North Carolina superstar Tyler Hansbrough, he comes off a sophomore season in which he averaged 10.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists as a regular starter.
Notre Dame did not sign any recruits from high school for the 2008-09 class.

### Preseason outlook

With returning Big East Player of The Year Luke Harangody, the Irish were picked to finish fourth in the Big East conference by the Big East coach's poll. Harangody was also a unanimous first-team all-Big East selection and was picked to repeat as player of the year. Senior point guard Kyle McAlarney also made first-team all-Big East selection. Notre Dame is also looking to keep its 37 consecutive home game win streak alive.
Notre Dame was selected as the preseason No. 9 team in the country in the USA Today/ESPN preseason coaches poll, the program's highest ever preseason ranking in that poll. The Irish also debuted at No. 9 in the AP preseason poll, the fifth time Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 10 of that poll and its first top 10 ranking since the 1980–81 season.

## Regular season
### Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Year | Home Town |
| Tim Abromaitis | 21 | F | Sophomore | Farmington, CT |
| Tim Andree | 41 | F | Junior | Colts Neck, NJ |
| Ryan Ayers | 42 | F/G | Senior | Blue Bell, PA |
| Ben Hansbrough | 22 | G | Junior | Poplar Bluff, MO |
| Luke Harangody | 44 | F | Junior | Schererville, IN |
| Zach Hillesland | 33 | F | Senior | Toledo, OH |
| Tory Jackson | 2 | G | Junior | Saginaw, MI |
| Tom Kopko | 5 | G | Sophomore | Chicago, IL |
| Scott Martin | 14 | G | Sophomore | Valparaiso, IN |
| Kyle McAlarney | 23 | G | Senior | Staten Island, NY |
| Tyrone Nash | 1 | G/F | Sophomore | Queens, NY |
| Jonathan Peoples | 20 | G | Junior | Bellwood, IL |
| Carleton Scott | 34 | F | Sophomore | San Antonio, TX |
| Luke Zeller | 40 | F/C | Senior | Washington, IN |
| Source: |||||
Hansbrough and Martin are not eligible to play due to NCAA transfer rules.

### Coaches

| Name | Position | Year at Notre Dame | Alma Mater (Year) |
| Mike Brey | Head coach | 9th | George Washington (1982) |
| Sean Kearney | Assistant head coach | 9th | Scranton (1981) |
| Rod Balanis | Assistant coach | 9th | Georgia Tech (1993) |
| Anthony Solomon | Assistant coach | 4th * | Virginia (1987) |
| Martin Ingelsby | Coordinator of basketball operations | 4th | Notre Dame (2001) |
*Solomon returns to the staff for his fourth year after a previous stint from 2000 to 2003.

## Schedule and Results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 16, 2008* 7:30 pm | No. 9 | USC Upstate | W 94–58 | 1–0 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,282) Notre Dame, IN |
| November 21, 2008* 10:00 pm, FSN | No. 8 | at Loyola Marymount | W 65–54 | 2–0 | Gersten Pavilion (4,534) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 24, 2008* 5:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | vs. Indiana Maui Invitational First Round | W 88–50 | 3–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| November 25, 2008* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | vs. No. 6 Texas Maui Invitational Semi-Final | W 81–80 | 4–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| November 26, 2008* 10:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | vs. No. 1 North Carolina Maui Invitational Final | L 87–102 | 4–1 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| November 30, 2008* 2:00 pm | No. 8 | Furman | W 93–61 | 5–1 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,037) Notre Dame, IN |
| December 2, 2008* 7:30 pm | No. 7 | South Dakota | W 102–76 | 6–1 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,753) Notre Dame, IN |
| December 6, 2008* 4:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 7 | vs. Ohio State The Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase | L 62–67 | 6–2 | Lucas Oil Stadium (17,007) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 13, 2008* 7:00 pm | No. 12 | Boston University | W 74–67 | 7–2 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,515) Notre Dame, IN |
| December 20, 2008* 7:00 pm | No. 12 | Delaware State | W 88–50 | 8–2 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,350) Notre Dame, IN |
| December 22, 2008* 7:00 pm | No. 8 | Savannah State | W 81–49 | 9–2 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,260) Notre Dame, IN |
| December 31, 2008 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at DePaul | W 92–82 | 10–2 (1–0) | Allstate Arena (9,881) Rosemont, IL |
| January 3, 2009 2:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 7 | at St. John's | L 65–71 | 10–3 (1–1) | Madison Square Garden (9,807) New York, NY |
| January 5, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 13 | No. 10 Georgetown | W 73–67 | 11–3 (2–1) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, IN |
| January 10, 2009 2:00 pm, Big East Network | No. 13 | Seton Hall | W 88–79 | 12–3 (3–1) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,079) Notre Dame, IN |
| January 12, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | at No. 20 Louisville | L 87–73 | 12–4 (3–2) | Freedom Hall (19,865) Louisville, KY |
| January 17, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | at No. 8 Syracuse | L 93–74 | 12–5 (3–3) | Carrier Dome (30,021) Syracuse, NY |
| January 24, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 19 | No. 3 Connecticut ESPN College GameDay | L 69–61 | 12–6 (3–4) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, IN |
| January 26, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 8 Marquette | L 71–64 | 12–7 (3–5) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, IN |
| January 31, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 3 Pittsburgh | L 93–80 | 12–8 (3–6) | Petersen Events Center (12,508) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 4, 2009 12:00 pm, Big East Network | | at Cincinnati | L 93–83 | 12–9 (3–7) | US Bank Arena (7,692) Cincinnati, OH |
| February 7, 2009* 1:00 pm, CBS | | at No. 15 UCLA | L 89–63 | 12–10 (3–7) | Pauley Pavilion (11,492) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 12, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 5 Louisville | W 90–57 | 13–10 (4–7) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, IN |
| February 15, 2009 2:00 pm, Big East Network | | South Florida | W 67–57 | 14–10 (5–7) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, IN |
| February 18, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at West Virginia | L 79–68 | 14–11 (5–8) | WVU Coliseum (13,126) Morgantown, WV |
| February 21, 2009 12:00 pm, Big East Network | | at Providence | W 103–84 | 15–11 (6–8) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,600) Providence, RI |
| February 25, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Rutgers | W 70–65 | 16–11 (7–8) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,203) Notre Dame, IN |
| February 28, 2009 4:00 pm, CBS | | at No. 2 Connecticut | L 72–65 | 16–12 (7–9) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| March 2, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 11 Villanova | W 77–60 | 16–13 (7–10) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) Notre Dame, IN |
| March 6, 2009 7:00 pm, Big East Network | | St. John's | W 74–55 | 17–13 (8–10) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,028) Notre Dame, IN |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. Rutgers | W 61–50 | 18–13 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| March 11, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. West Virginia | L 74–62 | 18–14 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| National Invitational Tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2009* 9:00 pm, ESPN | | UAB | W 70–64 | 19–14 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (2,039) Notre Dame, IN |
| March 19, 2009* 7:00 pm, ESPN | | New Mexico | W 70–68 | 20–14 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (3,013) Notre Dame, IN |
| March 25, 2009* 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Kentucky | W 77–67 | 21–14 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,636) Notre Dame, IN |
| March 31, 2009* 9:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. Penn State NIT Final Four | L 59–67 | 21–15 | Madison Square Garden (11,352) New York City |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

| 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 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 13 | NR | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 13 | NR | | | | | | | | | | | |