# 2008–09 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, the Jayhawks' 111th basketball season. The head coach was Bill Self, serving his 6th year. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, and were the defending National Champions. The AP poll released on January 26, 2009, had the Jayhawks unranked, which was the last poll in which the Jayhawks were not ranked until February 8, 2021. The following week, Kansas entered the rankings at number 21, beginning what is the longest streak in Men's Basketball history with 223 consecutive polls being ranked and achieved that record on November 30, 2020. They are 2 ahead of UCLA's 221 straight weeks that was done from 1967 to 1980.

## Pre-Season

The 2007–08 Jayhawks finished the season 37–3 overall with a 13–3 mark in conference play. They won the Big 12 regular season men's basketball championship, which they shared with the Texas Longhorns. In post season play, the Jayhawks won the Big 12 conference tournament championship and received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The team went on to win the national championship, 75–68, in overtime vs. the Memphis Tigers. The Jayhawks finished the season #1 in the final Coaches Poll after the tournament and were ranked 5th in the final AP Poll before the tournament. The team raised a temporary NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship banner to the rafters in an official ceremony to celebrate its 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament victory during Late Night in the Phog event. The official championship and final four banners were raised during the November 18 game against Florida Gulf Coast.
The Jayhawks lost five scholarship seniors from their national title team in addition to three underclassmen (Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, and Darrell Arthur) who opted to enter the NBA draft and eventually signed with agents. Returning from the national championship team are stars Sherron Collins, point guard, and Cole Aldrich, center. Other players returning are: seniors Matt Kleinmann and Brennan Bechard, and sophomores Brady Morningstar, Chase Buford, Tyrel Reed, and Connor Teahan.

### Recruiting

Coach Self signed seven recruits for the 2008–09 season. The class was led by New Jersey twins Marcus and Markieff Morris who both played the power forward position. Another signee from New Jersey was Quintrell Thomas, who also played the power forward position. Travis Releford, a Kansas City product was the first signee for the Jayhawks and was in the mix for departed star Brandon Rush's spot in the starting rotation. Coach Self also managed to lure point guard Tyshawn Taylor to Lawrence, after he was released from his letter of intent to play for Marquette. The Jayhawks also signed junior college transfers Tyrone Appleton and Mario Little.
College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tyrone Appleton PG | Midland, Texas | Midland College (TX) | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Feb 25, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Mario Little SF | Chicago, IL | Chipola Community College (FL) | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 7, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Marcus Morris PF | Pennsauken, NJ | Apex Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Oct 31, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Markieff Morris PF | Pennsauken, NJ | Apex Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Oct 31, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Travis Releford SG | Shawnee Mission, KS | Bishop Miege H.S. (KS) | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jun 19, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Tyshawn Taylor PG | Jersey City, NJ | Saint Anthony's H.S. (NJ) | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 29, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| Quintrell Thomas PF | Elizabeth, NJ | Saint Patrick's H.S. (NJ) | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 23, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 12 Rivals: 2 ESPN: 5 ||||||
| 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: "Kansas 2008 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 16, 2008. "2008 Kansas Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved September 16, 2008. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 16, 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved September 16, 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 16, 2008. ||||||

## Season summary

Kansas finished the regular season 25–6 (14–2). After being picked to tie for 3rd in the conference in preseason, the Jayhawks defied expectations and won their 5th straight Big 12 conference championship and 52nd overall.

### Awards

* Bill Self
** Big 12 Coach of the Year
** AP Coach of the Year
** USBWA Coach of the Year (Henry Iba Award).
** Sporting News Coach of the Year
** Athlon Sports Coach of the Year
** USBWA District VI Coach of the Year
** Yahoo Sports Coach of the Year
** CBS/Chevrolet Coach of the Year
** ESPN Coach of the Year
* Cole Aldrich
** All-Big 12 First Team
** Big 12 All-Defensive Team
** Big 12 Defensive Co-Player of the Year
** Big 12 All-Academic Team
** AP All-American Honorable Mention
** Athlon Sports National Most Improved Player of the Year
** NABC District 8 First Team
** USBWA All-District VI Team
** NCAA Tournament All-Midwest Regional Team
* Sherron Collins
** All-Big 12 First Team (unanimous selection)
** AP All-American Third Team
** CBSSports.com All-American Third Team
** Sporting News Third Team All-American
** USBWA All-District VI Team
** USBWA Second Team All-American.
** NABC District 8 First Team
** Finalist, Oscar Robertson Trophy
** Finalist, Bob Cousy Award
* Marcus Morris
** Big 12 All-Rookie Team
* Tyshawn Taylor
** Big 12 All-Rookie Team (unanimous selection)
* Tyrel Reed
** Big 12 All-Academic Team
* Matt Kleinmann
** Big 12 All-Academic Team

## Roster

| Name | # | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Home Town |
| Cole Aldrich | 45 | Center | 6–11 | 245 | Sophomore | Bloomington, MN |
| Tyrone Appleton | 32 | Guard | 6–4 | 190 | Junior | Midland, Texas |
| Brennan Bechard | 10 | Guard | 6–0 | 183 | Senior | Lawrence, KS |
| Chase Buford | 41 | Guard | 6–3 | 200 | Sophomore | San Antonio, Texas |
| Sherron Collins | 4 | Guard | 5–11 | 200 | Junior | Chicago, IL |
| Jordan Juenemann | 40 | Guard | 6–4 | 195 | Freshman | Hays, KS |
| Matt Kleinmann | 54 | Center | 6–10 | 247 | Senior | Overland Park, KS |
| Mario Little | 23 | Forward | 6–5 | 210 | Junior | Marianna, FL |
| Brady Morningstar | 12 | Guard | 6–3 | 185 | Sophomore | Lawrence, KS |
| Marcus Morris | 22 | Forward | 6–9 | 230 | Freshman | Pennsauken, NJ |
| Markieff Morris | 21 | Forward | 6–10 | 220 | Freshman | Pennsauken, NJ |
| Tyrel Reed | 14 | Guard | 6–4 | 180 | Sophomore | Burlington, KS |
| Travis Releford | 24 | Guard | 6–6 | 190 | Freshman | Shawnee Mission, KS |
| Tyshawn Taylor | 15 | Guard | 6–3 | 160 | Freshman | Jersey City, NJ |
| Conner Teahan | 2 | Guard | 6–5 | 200 | Sophomore | Leawood, KS |
| Quintrell Thomas | 11 | Forward | 6–8 | 225 | Freshman | Elizabeth, NJ |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Summer Canadian Exhibition Games ||||||
| 2008/08/30* 10:00 a.m. | | McGill University | W 72–67 | | Montpetit Hall Gym Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| 2008/08/30* 6:00 p.m. | | Carleton University | W 84–83 | | Scotiabank Place Ottawa, Canada |
| 2008/08/31* 6:00 p.m. | | University of Ottawa | W 95–60 | | Montpetit Hall Gym Ottawa, Canada |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 2008/11/4* 7:00 p.m., Jayhawk-TV | No. 24 | Washburn | W 98–79 | | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/11/11* 7:00 p.m., Jayhawk-TV | No. 24 | Emporia State | W 103–58 | | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| Regular season ||||||
| 2008/11/16* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 24 | UMKC CBE Classic First Round | W 71–56 | 1–0 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/11/18* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 24 | Florida Gulf Coast CBE Classic Second Round | W 85–45 | 2–0 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/11/24* 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 22 | vs. Washington CBE Classic Semifinal | W 73–54 | 3–0 | Sprint Center (14,720) Kansas City, MO |
| 2008/11/25* 9:15 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 22 | vs. Syracuse CBE Classic Championship | L 81–89 $^{OT}$ | 3–1 | Sprint Center (16,988) Kansas City, MO |
| 2008/11/28* 7:00 p.m., Jayhawk-TV | No. 22 | Coppin State | W 85–53 | 4–1 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/12/1* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Kent State | W 87–60 | 5–1 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/12/3* 7:00 p.m., Jayhawk-TV | | New Mexico State | W 100–79 | 6–1 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/12/6* 1:00 p.m., Jayhawk-TV | | Jackson State | W 86–62 | 7–1 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/12/13* 1:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 25 | vs. Massachusetts | L 60–61 | 7–2 | Sprint Center (17,252) Kansas City, MO |
| 2008/12/20* 1:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | Temple | W 71–59 | 8–2 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2008/12/23* 9:30 p.m., FSN | | at Arizona Fiesta Bowl Classic & Big 12/Pac-10 Series | L 67–84 | 8–3 | McKale Center (14,156) Tucson, AZ |
| 2008/12/30* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Albany | W 79–43 | 9–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/1/03* 1:00 p.m., ESPN | | No. 14 Tennessee | W 92–85 | 10–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/1/06* 7:00 p.m., Jayhawk-TV | | Siena | W 91–84 | 11–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/1/10* 1:00 p.m., CBS | | at No. 8 Michigan State | L 62–75 | 11–4 | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI |
| 2009/1/13 7:00 p.m., Big 12 (ESPN+) | | Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 87–71 | 12–4 (1–0) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/1/17 2:30 p.m., ABC | | at Colorado | W 73–56 | 13–4 (2–0) | Coors Events Center (10,212) Boulder, CO |
| 2009/1/19 8:00 p.m., ESPN | | Texas A&M | W 73–53 | 14–4 (3–0) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/1/24 1:00 p.m., ESPN | | at Iowa State | W 82–67 | 15–4 (4–0) | Hilton Coliseum (13,170) Ames, IA |
| 2009/1/28 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Nebraska | W 68–62 | 16–4 (5–0) | Bob Devaney Sports Center (11,407) Lincoln, NE |
| 2009/1/31 3:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Colorado | W 66–61 | 17–4 (6–0) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/2/2 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 21 | at Baylor | W 75–65 | 18–4 (7–0) | Ferrell Center (9,028) Waco, Texas |
| 2009/2/7 2:30 p.m., ABC | No. 21 | Oklahoma State | W 78–67 | 19–4 (8–0) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/2/9 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 16 | at No. 17 Missouri Border War | L 60–62 | 19–5 (8–1) | Mizzou Arena (15,061) Columbia, MO |
| 2009/2/14 2:30 p.m., ABC | No. 16 | at Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 85–74 | 20–5 (9–1) | Bramlage Coliseum (12,528) Manhattan, KS |
| 2009/2/18 7:00 p.m., Big 12 (ESPN+) | No. 15 | Iowa State | W 72–55 | 21–5 (10–1) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/2/21 3:00 p.m., Big 12 (ESPN+) | No. 15 | Nebraska | W 70–53 | 22–5 (11–1) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/2/23 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 15 | at No. 3 Oklahoma | W 87–78 | 23–5 (12–1) | Lloyd Noble Center (12,625) Norman, OK |
| 2009/3/1 1:00 p.m., CBS | No. 15 | No. 11 Missouri Border War | W 90–65 | 24–5 (13–1) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| 2009/3/4 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 9 | at Texas Tech | L 65–84 | 24–6 (13–2) | United Spirit Arena (9,883) Lubbock, Texas |
| 2009/3/7 3:00 p.m., CBS | No. 9 | Texas | W 83–73 | 25–6 (14–2) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| Big 12 Tournament ||||||
| 2009/03/12 11:30 a.m., ESPN2 | No. 11 | vs. Baylor Quarterfinals | L 64–71 | 25–7 | Ford Center (14,909) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| 2009/03/20 11:30 a.m., CBS | No. 14 (3) | vs. (14) North Dakota State First Round | W 84–74 | 26–7 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (15,794) Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 2009/03/22 1:30 p.m., CBS | No. 14 (3) | vs. (11) Dayton Second Round | W 60–43 | 27–7 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (14,279) Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| 2009/03/27 8:37 p.m., CBS | No. 14 (3) | vs. No. 8 (2) Michigan State Sweet Sixteen | L 62–67 | 27–8 | Lucas Oil Stadium (33,780) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll, NCAA tournament seeds shown in parentheses. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. ||||||

## 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 | Final |
| AP | 24 | 24 | 22 | NR | 25 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 21 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 14 | N/A |
| Coaches | 23 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 23 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 24 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 10 |