# 2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team represented the University of Minnesota in the college basketball season of 2008–2009. The team's head coach was Tubby Smith. This was Smith's second year as Minnesota's head coach. The Golden Gophers played their home games at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Big Ten Network included the team in a two-and-a-half-hour special that featured Midnight Madness events from several Big Ten campuses on October 17, 2008; the Minnesota event to kick off the season was called "Tubby's Tipoff". The Gophers started the season on a twelve-game winning streak for the first time since the 1948–49 season. The team became ranked on December 22, the first time the team had been ranked since the 2002–03 season.
Recruit Royce White signed with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but did not play due to shoplifting and trespassing charges. He transferred to Iowa State in July 2010.

## Roster

| # | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) |
| 0 | Al Nolen | 6'1" | 180 | G | So. | Minneapolis, MN, U.S. | Minneapolis Henry HS |
| 1 | Paul Carter | 6'8" | 195 | F | So. | Little Rock, AR, U.S. | Little Rock Mills HS Missouri State-West Plains |
| 3 | Kevin Payton | 6'5" | 215 | G/F | RJr. | Camden, NJ, U.S. | Camden HS |
| 4 | Travis Busch | 6'4" | 220 | G/F | Jr. | Mounds View, MN, U.S. | Mounds View HS |
| 5 | Devoe Joseph | 6'3" | 170 | G | Fr. | Ajax, ON, Canada | Pickering HS |
| 11 | Jonathan Williams | 6'9" | 250 | G | Sr. | St. Cloud, MN, U.S. | Notre Dame Prep St. Cloud Apollo HS |
| 20 | Lawrence Westbrook | 6'0" | 195 | G | Jr. | Chandler, AZ, U.S. | Winchendon Prep |
| 22 | Devron Bostick | 6'5" | 210 | G | Jr. | Racine, WI, U.S. | St. Catharine's HS SW Illinois |
| 24 | Blake Hoffarber | 6'4" | 200 | G | So. | Minnetonka, MN, U.S. | Hopkins HS |
| 33 | Jamal Abu-Shamala | 6'5" | 210 | G/F | Sr. | Shakopee, MN, U.S. | Shakopee HS |
| 34 | Damian Johnson | 6'7" | 195 | F | RJr. | Thibodaux, LA, U.S. | Thibodaux HS |
| 45 | Colton Iverson | 6'10" | 235 | F/C | Fr. | Yankton, SD, U.S. | Yankton HS |
| 50 | Ralph Sampson III | 6'11" | 220 | F/C | Fr. | Duluth, GA, U.S. | Northview HS |

### Incoming signees

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ralph Sampson III C | Duluth, Georgia | Northview HS | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 25, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Devoe Joseph SG | Ajax, Ontario | Picking HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 21, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Colton Iverson PF/C | Yankton, South Dakota | Yankton HS | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 238 lb (108 kg) | Sep 19, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Paul Carter F | West Plains, Missouri | Missouri State – West Plains | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 193 lb (88 kg) | Aug 21, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: n/a ||||||
| Devron Bostick SF | Belleville, Illinois | Southwestern Illinois | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 213 lb (97 kg) | Oct 11, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: n/a ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 27 Rivals: 23 ||||||
| 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: "Minnesota Commit List for 2008". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "ESPN – Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball Recruiting 2008". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 20, 2008. ||||||

## 2008–09 Schedule and Results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 3, 2008* 7:00 pm | | St. Cloud State | W 88–80 | | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| November 6, 2008* 7:00 pm | | Northern State | W 92–62 | | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 14, 2008* 7:00 pm | | Concordia, St. Paul NABC Classic | W 76–51 | 1–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| November 15, 2008* 7:00 pm | | Bowling Green NABC Classic | W 68–61 | 2–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| November 16, 2008* 7:00 | | Georgia State NABC Classic | W 60–52 | 3–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| November 22, 2008* 9:00, The Mtn. | | at Colorado State | W 72–71 | 4–0 | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| November 26, 2008* 7:30, BTN | | Eastern Washington | W 88–67 | 5–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| November 29, 2008* 1:00, BTN | | North Dakota State | W 90–76 | 6–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| December 2, 2008* 8:30, ESPN2 | | Virginia ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 66–56 | 7–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| December 6, 2008* 1:00 | | Cornell | W 71–54 | 8–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| December 10, 2008* 8:00, BTN | | South Dakota State | W 74–60 | 9–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| December 20, 2008* 1:00, FSN North | | vs. No. 9 Louisville Stadium Shootout | W 70–64 | 10–0 | University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ |
| December 23, 2008* 8:00, ESPNU | No. 23 | Southeastern Louisiana | W 80–71 | 11–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| December 28, 2008* 7:00, ESPNU | No. 23 | High Point | W 82–56 | 12–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| Big Ten Regular Season ||||||
| December 31, 2008 11:00am, BTN | No. 21 | No. 10 Michigan State | L 58–70 | 12–1 (0–1) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| January 3, 2009 11:00am, BTN | No. 21 | No. 24 Ohio State | W 68–59 | 13–1 (1–1) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| January 8, 2009 6:00, ESPN2 | No. 22 | at Iowa | W 52–49 | 14–1 (2–1) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA |
| January 11, 2009 2:30, BTN | No. 22 | Penn State | W 79–59 | 15–1 (3–1) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| January 15, 2009 8:00, BTN | No. 18 | at Wisconsin | W 78–74 $^{(OT)}$ | 16–1 (4–1) | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| January 18, 2009 1:00, BTN | No. 18 | at Northwestern | L 65–74 | 16–2 (4–2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| January 22, 2009 6:00, ESPN2 | No. 21 | No. 18 Purdue | L 62–70 | 16–3 (4–3) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| January 25, 2009 11:00am, BTN | No. 21 | at Indiana | W 67–63 | 17–3 (5–3) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN |
| January 29, 2009 8:00, BTN | | No. 19 Illinois | W 59–36 | 18–3 (6–3) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| February 4, 2009 7:30, BTN | No. 19 | at No. 13 Michigan State | L 47–76 | 18–4 (6–4) | Breslin Center East Lansing, MI |
| February 7, 2009 7:00, BTN | No. 19 | at Ohio State | L 58–64 | 18–5 (6–5) | Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH |
| February 10, 2009 8:00, BTN | | Indiana | W 62–54 | 19–5 (7–5) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| February 14, 2009 12:30, BTN | | at Penn State | L 63–68 | 19–6 (7–6) | Bryce Jordan Center State College, PA |
| February 19, 2009 6:00, BTN | | at Michigan | W 74–62 | 19–7 (7–7) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 22, 2009 6:00, BTN | | Northwestern | W 72–45 | 20–7 (8–7) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| February 26, 2009 6:00, BTN | | at No. 20 Illinois | L 41–52 | 20–8 (8–8) | Assembly Hall Champaign, IL |
| March 4, 2009 7:30, BTN | | Wisconsin | W 51–46 | 21–8 (9–8) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| March 7, 2009 11:00am, ESPN | | Michigan | L 64–67 | 21–9 (9–9) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN |
| 2009 Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 12, 2009* 11:00am, BTN | (8) | vs. (9) Northwestern First Round | W 66–53 | 22–9 | Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| March 13, 2009* 11:00am, ESPN | (8) | vs. (1) No. 7 Michigan State Quarterfinal | L 56–64 | 22–10 | Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2009* 6:10, CBS | (10 E) | vs. (7 E) Texas First Round | L 62–76 | 22–11 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central 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 | | | | | | | 23 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 21 | NR | 19 | NR | | | | | | |
| Coaches | | | | | | | 23 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 19 | NR | | | | | | |