# 2008–09 Savannah State Tigers basketball team

The 2008–09 Savannah State Tigers basketball team competed in American basketball on behalf of Savannah State University. The Tigers competed in the NCAA Division I as an independent. The head coach is Horace Broadnax who is in his fourth year. The team played its home games at Tiger Arena in Savannah, Georgia. The Tigers entered the season seeking to improve on the 13–18 record posted in the 2007–08 season.

## Season notes
### Pre-season notes

* July 3, 2008 (2008-07-03) - Mark St. Fort, Arnold Louis, Rashad Hassan, Josh Smith and Glen Izevbigie sign letters-of-intent with Savannah State University.

### Regular season notes

* December 19, 2008 (2008-12-19) - The game against South Carolina State University was moved from Saturday, December 20, 2008, to Wednesday, January 14, 2009. The schedule change was made because inclement weather delayed the return of the South Carolina State men's basketball team from another competition.

## Roster

SSU Men's Basketball Roster :
| Head coach: Horace Broadnax ||||||
| G | 1 | Patrick Hardy | Junior | 5-10, 180 | Atlanta, GA (Westlake) |
| G | 2 | Tracy Rankins | Junior | 5-10, 180 | Queens, NY (Douglas County) |
| F | 3 | Mark St. Fort | Freshman | 6-6, 210 | Wauchula, FL (Hardee Senior) |
| F | 4 | Rod Mitchell | Sophomore | 6-7, 205 | Columbus, GA (G.W. Carver) |
| G | 5 | Raye Bailey | Senior | 5-11, 180 | Port St. Joe, FL (Port St. Joe/Gulf Coast CC) |
| F | 10 | Josh Smith | Freshman | 6-5, 195 | Savannah, GA (Johnson) |
| G | 13 | Anthony Jones | Sophomore | 6-3, 190 | Stone Mountain, GA (Miller Groves) |
| C | 14 | Glen Izevbigie | Junior | 6-10, 230 | London, England (Richmond Academy/Garett) |
| G/F | 20 | Jovonni Shuler | Junior | 6-4, 180 | Lake Placid, FL (Lake Placid) |
| F | 22 | Rashad Hassan | Freshman | 6-7, 215 | Riverdale, GA (Riverdale) |
| G/F | 23 | Curtis Brown | Sophomore | 6-5, 185 | Hephzibah, GA (Hephzibah) |
| F | 24 | Chris Linton | Senior | 6-6, 195 | Jacksonville, FL (Ribault) |
| F | 34 | Devin Stowers | Senior | 6-4, 205 | Hephzibah, GA (Hephzibah) |
| F | 42 | Arnold, Louis | Freshman | 6-7, 205 | Wauchula, FL (Hardee Senior) |
| G | 55 | LaQuinton Fort | Freshman | 6-2, 172 | Thomson, GA (Thomson) |

### Coaching Staff

| Name | Type | College | Graduating year |
| Horace Broadnax | Head coach | Georgetown University | 1986 |
| Jay Gibbons | Assistant coach | Clayton State University | 2003 |
| Clyde Wormley | Assistant coach | The Citadel | 2003 |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| November 14* 7:00 p.m. | Brewton-Parker College | W 83-45 Recap | 1-0 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| November 16* 3:00 p.m. | University of North Florida | W 75-60 Recap | 2-0 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| November 18* 7:00 p.m. | Coastal Carolina University | W 66-65 Recap | 3-0 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| November 22* 11:30 a.m. | University of New Orleans | W 54-44 Recap | 4-0 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| November 25* 8:00 p.m. | at Clemson University | W 81-49 Recap | 4-1 | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC |
| November 29* 2:00 p.m. | at University of Michigan | W 66-64 Recap $^{OT}$ | 4-2 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 1* 7:30 p.m. | Bowling Green State University | W 57-54 Recap | 5-2 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| December 6* 8:00 p.m. | at Saint Louis University | W 55-37 Recap | 5-3 | Chaifetz Arena St. Louis, MO |
| December 8* 7:30 p.m. | at No. 19 Georgetown University | W 100-38 Recap | 5-4 | Verizon Center Washington, D.C. |
| December 16* 7:00 p.m. | Kennesaw State University | W 53-49 Recap | 6-4 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| December 18* 7:00 p.m. | Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi | W 47-42 Recap | 7-4 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| December 22* 7:00 p.m. | at University of Notre Dame | W 81-49 Recap | 7-5 | Edmund P. Joyce Center South Bend, IN |
| December 30* 6:00 p.m. | Bethune-Cookman University | W 55-29 Recap | 7-6 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| January 3* 3:00 p.m. | at University of Alabama-Birmingham | W 63-37 Recap | 7-7 | Bartow Arena Birmingham, AL |
| January 6* 9:00 p.m. | at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater | W 83-56 Recap | 7-8 | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK |
| January 12* 7:00 p.m. | Talladega College | W 78-70 | 8-8 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| January 14* 7:00 p.m. | South Carolina State University | W 57-53 Recap | 9-8 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| January 17* 2:00 p.m. | at Longwood | W 86-76 Recap | 9-9 | Willett Hall Farmville, VA |
| January 20* 7:00 p.m. | at Jacksonville University | L 56-69 Recap | 9-10 | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL |
| January 24* 4:00 p.m. | at Utah Valley University | W 55-39 Recap | 9-11 | McKay Events Center Orem, UT |
| January 28* 7:00 p.m. | Allen University | W 77-43 Recap | 10-11 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| January 31* 7:30 p.m. | at North Carolina Central University | W 67-51 Recap | 11-11 | McClendon-McDougald Gymnasium Durham, NC |
| February 2* 8:00 p.m. | at University of Texas–Pan American | W 64-58 Recap | 12-11 | UTPA Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX |
| February 7* 1:00 p.m. | Longwood University | W 68-64 Recap | 12-12 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| February 12* 8:00 p.m. | at Stetson University | W 66-52 Recap | 12-13 | Edmunds Center DeLand, FL |
| February 14* 3:00 p.m. | Utah Valley University | L 58-69 Recap | 12-14 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| February 18* 7:00 p.m. | Florida Atlantic University | W 79-66 Recap | 13-14 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| February 26* 7:00 p.m. | Carver Bible College | W 103-44 Recap | 14-14 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| March 2* 7:00 p.m. | North Carolina Central University | W 69-64 Recap | 15-14 | Tiger Arena Savannah, GA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Awards

* Junior guard/forward Jovonni Shuler and freshman forward Rashad Hassan received Honorable Mention honors on the 2008-09 Division I All-Independent men's basketball team.
* Chris Linton and Raye Bailey were selected as co-Most Valuable Player for the 2008–09 season.