# 2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball team

The 2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball team was an NCAA Division I college basketball team that represented the University of Central Florida and competed in Conference USA. They played their home games at the UCF Arena in Orlando, Florida, and were led by head coach Kirk Speraw who was in his 16th season with the team. In the previous year, the Knights finished the season 16–15, 9–7 in C-USA play.
In February 2012, UCF vacated its wins from the 2008–09 season after it was discovered that there was an ineligible player on the team. The team's pre-sanction record was 17–14 (7–9). The "official" record stands as 0–14.

## Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| David Diakite | 15 | G/F | 6–6 | 205 | Freshman | Washington, D.C. |
| P.J. Gaynor | 21 | F | 6–7 | 200 | Freshman | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Jakub Kusmieruk | 13 | C | 7–4 | 300 | Freshman | Sokołów Podlaski, Poland |
| A.J. Rompza | 3 | G | 5–9 | 160 | Freshman | Chicago, Illinois |
| Isaac Sosa | 11 | G | 6–3 | 180 | Freshman | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| Drew Speraw | 10 | G | 6–2 | 175 | Junior | Oviedo, Florida |
| Jermaine Taylor | 1 | G | 6–4 | 215 | Senior | Tavares, Florida |
| Amara Thompson | 22 | G | 6–4 | 180 | Freshman | Tucker, Georgia |
| A.J. Tyler | 25 | F | 6–9 | 225 | Sophomore | Palm Harbor, Florida |
| Jean Michel Yotio | 34 | F/C | 6–9 | 235 | Sophomore | Abidjan, Ivory Coast |
| Taylor Young | 12 | G | 6–1 | 195 | Sophomore | Orlando, Florida |
| Kenrick Zondervan | 13 | F/C | 6–9 | 240 | Senior | Hoofddorp, Holland |

### Coaches

| Name | Type | College | Graduating year |
| Kirk Speraw | Head coach | University of Iowa | 1980 |
| Mike Jaskulski | Associate Head Coach | St. Norbert | 1976 |
| Craig Brown | Assistant coach | University of Florida | 1995 |
| Micah Byars | Director of Basketball Operations | University of West Florida | 2006 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 11, 2008* 7:00 pm | Flagler | W 76–56 | 1–0 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| Regular season (Non-conference play) ||||||
| November 16, 2008* 1:00 pm | North Carolina A&T | W 81–62 | 1–0 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| November 18, 2008* 8:00 pm | at Valparaiso | L 52–69 | 1–1 | Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN |
| November 22, 2008* 9:00 pm | at New Mexico | W 72–71 | 2–1 | The Pit Arena Albuquerque, NM |
| November 26, 2008* 7:00 pm | at Ole Miss | L 46–78 | 2–2 | Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS |
| November 29, 2008* 4:30 pm | vs. South Dakota State Cancún Challenge | W 66–64 | 3–2 | Moon Palace Resort Cancún, MX |
| November 30, 2008* 5:00 pm | vs. Morehead State Cancún Challenge | L 65–71 | 3–3 | Moon Palace Resort Cancún, MX |
| December 6, 2008* 7:00 pm | South Florida UCF–USF rivalry | W 71–63 | 4–3 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| December 12, 2008* 7:00 pm | Florida Tech | W 110–68 | 5–3 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| December 20, 2008* 6:30 pm | vs. Florida | L 61–89 | 5–4 | Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL |
| December 22, 2008* 7:00 pm | Valparaiso | W 85–60 | 6–4 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| December 29, 2008* 7:00 pm | Penn UCF Holiday Classic | W 81–64 | 7–4 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| December 30, 2008* 7:00 pm | Chicago State UCF Holiday Classic | W 89–75 | 8–4 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| January 3, 2009* 7:00 pm | Holy Cross | W 85–70 | 9–4 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| January 6, 2009* 7:00 pm | Sam Houston State | W 70–57 | 10–4 | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| Regular season (Conference play) ||||||
| January 10, 2009 5:00 pm, no | Memphis | L 66–73 | 10–5 (0–1) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| January 13, 2009 8:00 pm | at UAB | L 52–60 | 10–6 (0–2) | Bartow Arena Birmingham, AL |
| January 17, 2009 4:00 pm | at Rice | W 77–52 | 11–6 (1–2) | Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX |
| January 21, 2009 7:00 pm | Southern Miss | W 73–61 | 12–6 (2–2) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| January 25, 2009 2:00 pm | Marshall | W 87–69 | 13–6 (3–2) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| January 28, 2009 7:00 pm | SMU | W 70–45 | 14–6 (4–2) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| January 31, 2009 2:00 pm | at Tulane | W 79–74 | 15–6 (5–2) | Fogelman Arena New Orleans, LA |
| February 4, 2009 7:00 pm | Houston | L 69–97 | 15–7 (5–3) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| February 7, 2009 7:00 pm | at East Carolina | L 75–89 | 15–8 (5–4) | Minges Coliseum Greenville, NC |
| February 11, 2009 7:00 pm | at UTEP | L 68–73 | 15–9 (5–5) | Don Haskins Center El Paso, TX |
| February 14, 2009 7:00 pm | Tulsa | W 74–72 | 16–9 (6–5) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| February 21, 2009 7:00 pm | at Houston | L 72–77 | 16–10 (6–6) | Hofheinz Pavilion Houston, TX |
| February 25, 2009 7:00 pm | Rice | L 66–69 | 16–11 (6–7) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| February 28, 2009 7:00 pm | at Marshall | L 62–67 | 16–12 (6–8) | Cam Henderson Center Huntington, WV |
| March 4, 2009 7:00 pm | at Tulsa | L 70–79 | 16–13 (6–9) | Reynolds Center Tulsa, OK |
| March 7, 2009 7:00 pm | East Carolina | W 74–71 | 17–13 (7–9) | UCF Arena Orlando, FL |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2009 | vs. Southern Miss | L 53–77 | 17–14 | FedEx Forum Memphis, TN |
| *Non-Conference Game. Rankings from AP poll. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||