# 2008–09 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

The 2008–09 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represented West Virginia University in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Bob Huggins and played their home games in the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

## Pre-season

During the offseason, the Mountaineers picked up four recruits who look to make an immediate impact in Morgantown. Devin Ebanks a 6–9, 205 pound forward from Oakdale, CT seems to be the Mountaineers #1 recruit, being ranked #11 on the Rivals.com Top 150 recruits. The Mountaineers also added Darryl "Truck" Bryant, a 6-2 190 pound guard from Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Jones, a 6-7 210 pound forward from Mount Vernon, NY, and Dee Proby a 6-9 250 pound forward from Angelina College in Lufkin, TX. West Virginia was picked to finish 9th in the Big East Pre-Season Coaches Poll.

## Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| Darryl Bryant | 25 | G | 6-2 | 200 | Freshman | Brooklyn, New York |
| Da'Sean Butler | 1 | F | 6-7 | 225 | Junior | Newark, New Jersey |
| Devin Ebanks | 3 | F | 6-9 | 205 | Freshman | Long Island City, New York |
| John Flowers | 41 | F | 6-7 | 203 | Sophomore | Waldorf, Maryland |
| Kevin Jones | 5 | F | 6-8 | 230 | Freshman | Mount Vernon, New York |
| Joe Mazzulla | 21 | G | 6-2 | 205 | Junior | Johnston, Rhode Island |
| Cameron Payne | 33 | G | 6-4 | 215 | Redshirt-Freshman | Charleston, West Virginia |
| Dee Proby | 45 | F | 6-10 | 240 | Junior | Round Rock, Texas |
| Alex Ruoff | 22 | G | 6-6 | 220 | Senior | Spring Hill, Florida |
| Wellington Smith | 35 | F | 6-7 | 230 | Junior | Summit, New Jersey |
| Josh Sowards | 20 | F | 6-7 | 215 | Redshirt-Junior | Scott Depot, West Virginia |
| Will Thomas | 24 | G | 6-5 | 215 | Sophomore | East Cleveland, Ohio |
| Cam Thoroughman | 2 | F | 6-7 | 225 | Redshirt-Sophomore | Portsmouth, Ohio |
| Jonnie West | 4 | G | 6-3 | 187 | Redshirt-Sophomore | Memphis, Tennessee |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 15, 2008* 7:00 pm | | Elon | W 92–47 | 1–0 | WVU Coliseum (10,250) Morgantown, WV |
| November 20, 2008* 7:00 pm | | Longwood | W 86–54 | 2–0 | WVU Coliseum (6,917) Morgantown, WV |
| November 25, 2008* 7:00 pm | | vs. Delaware State Las Vegas Invitational | W 76–42 | 3–0 | Charleston Civic Center (10,434) Charleston, WV |
| November 28, 2008* 9:00 pm, ESPN360 | | vs. Iowa Las Vegas Invitational | W 87–68 | 4–0 | Orleans Arena (5,000) Las Vegas, NV |
| November 29, 2008* 10:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Kentucky Las Vegas Invitational Championship Game | L 43–54 | 4–1 | Orleans Arena (5,500) Las Vegas, NV |
| December 3, 2008* 9:00 pm, ESPN360 | | at Mississippi | W 80–78 | 5–1 | Tad Smith Coliseum (6,787) Oxford, MS |
| December 6, 2008* 1:00 pm | | Cleveland State | W 53–43 | 6–1 | WVU Coliseum (8,765) Morgantown, WV |
| December 9, 2008* 7:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 23 Davidson Jimmy V Classic | L 65–68 | 6–2 | Madison Square Garden (14,675) New York, NY |
| December 13, 2008* 7:00 pm | | Duquesne | W 68–63 | 7–2 | A.J. Palumbo Center (3,487) Pittsburgh, PA |
| December 20, 2008* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Miami (OH) | W 82–46 | 8–2 | WVU Coliseum (8,980) Morgantown, WV |
| December 23, 2008* 7:00 pm | | Radford | W 89–54 | 9–2 | WVU Coliseum (7,064) Morgantown, WV |
| December 27, 2008* 4:00 pm, CBS | | at No. 15 Ohio State | W 76–48 | 10–2 | Value City Arena (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| January 3, 2009 4:00 pm, ESPN360 | | at Seton Hall | W 92–66 | 11–2 (1–0) | Prudential Center (8,127) Newark, NJ |
| January 6, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 25 | No. 5 Connecticut | L 55–61 | 11–3 (1–1) | WVU Coliseum (13,920) Morgantown, WV |
| January 10, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN360 | No. 25 | at No. 18 Marquette | L 53–75 | 11–4 (1–2) | Bradley Center (17,085) Milwaukee, WI |
| January 14, 2009* 1:00 pm | | vs. Marshall Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic | W 87–76 | 12–4 | Charleston Civic Center (12,580) Charleston, WV |
| January 17, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN360 | | South Florida | W 62–59 | 13–4 (2–2) | WVU Coliseum (11,037) Morgantown, WV |
| January 22, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 12 Georgetown | W 75–58 | 14–4 (3–2) | Verizon Center (12,875) Washington, D.C. |
| January 25, 2009 4:00 pm, ESPN360 | | No. 4 Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl | L 67–79 | 14–5 (3–3) | WVU Coliseum (14,329) Morgantown, WV |
| January 28, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN360 | | St. John's | W 75–52 | 15–5 (4–3) | WVU Coliseum (6,583) Morgantown, WV |
| January 31, 2009 12:00 pm, ESPN360 | | at No. 7 Louisville | L 63–69 | 15–6 (4–4) | Freedom Hall (19,416) Louisville, KY |
| February 4, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 20 Syracuse | L 61–74 | 15–7 (4–5) | Carrier Dome (21,069) Syracuse, NY |
| February 7, 2009 4:00 pm, ESPN360 | | Providence | W 86–59 | 16–7 (5–5) | WVU Coliseum (11,091) Morgantown, WV |
| February 9, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 4 Pittsburgh Backyard Brawl | L 59–70 | 16–8 (5–6) | Petersen Events Center (12,508) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 13, 2009 9:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 13 Villanova | W 93–72 | 17–8 (6–6) | WVU Coliseum (12,513) Morgantown, WV |
| February 18, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN360 | | Notre Dame | W 79–68 | 18–8 (7–6) | WVU Coliseum (13,126) Morgantown, WV |
| February 22, 2009 3:00 pm, ESPN360 | | at Rutgers | W 74–56 | 19–8 (8–6) | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,281) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 26, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at Cincinnati | L 61–65 | 19–9 (8–7) | Fifth Third Arena (11,332) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 1, 2008 4:00 pm, ESPN360 | | at South Florida | W 64–50 | 20–9 (9–7) | USF Sun Dome (5,082) Tampa, FL |
| March 4, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN360 | | DePaul | W 82–63 | 21–9 (10–7) | WVU Coliseum (10,070) Morgantown, WV |
| March 7, 2009 9:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 6 Louisville ESPN College GameDay | L 59–62 | 21–10 (10–8) | WVU Coliseum (13,089) Morgantown, WV |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. Notre Dame Second Round | W 74–62 | 22–10 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| March 12, 2009 7:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 2 Pittsburgh Quarterfinals (Backyard Brawl) | W 74–60 | 23–10 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| March 13, 2009 9:30 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 18 Syracuse Semifinals | L 69–74 $^{OT}$ | 23–11 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2009* 3:00 pm, CBS | | vs. Dayton 1st Round | L 60–68 | 23–12 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (15,794) Minneapolis, MN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | | 25 | — | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | 22 | — | | | | | | | | | | |