The 2008–09 Tennessee Volunteers basketball teamThe "Volunteers" nickname is exclusive to men's athletics at the school. Women's teams and athletes are formally referred to as "Lady Volunteers", but the short form of "Lady Vols" is more widely used (the university officially approves the use of both forms). represented the University of Tennessee in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was the fourth season for Bruce Pearl as the Volunteers' head coach. The team, a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, played its home games at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Preseason The 2007–08 Volunteers finished the season 31–5 overall with a 14–2 mark in conference play. They won their first outright SEC regular season men's basketball championship in 41 years. In postseason play, the Volunteers earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. The team went on to lose in the Sweet Sixteen to the Louisville Cardinals and finished ranked at #7 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

The Vols lost three seniors from their team during the off-season: Chris Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and Jordan Howell. Also, sophomore forward Duke Crews and sophomore point guard Ramar Smith were dismissed from the team for a combination of "violations of the University of Tennessee’s substance-abuse policy and academic shortcomings."

On November 3, 2008, the SEC released the rosters for the preseason All-SEC first and second teams. Junior forward Tyler Smith was chosen for both SEC Player of the Year and first team All-SEC. Wayne Chism and J. P. Prince were selected for the second team All-SEC, thus tying Tennessee with LSU for the most All-SEC selections (3).

Recruiting Bruce Pearl was able to pull together a highly ranked recruiting class for the 2008–09 season. The class included: Emmanuel Negedu, rated 13th among power forwards in the Class of 2008 by Rivals.com; Renaldo Woolridge, the 11th ranked small forward; Bobby Maze, a junior college guard averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game; and Scotty Hopson, a McDonald's All-American and ranked 5th overall by Rivals.com. The class also includes point guard Daniel West and center Philip Jurick. Rivals.com ranked the class as 7th best in the nation.

2008–09 Roster Name Number Position Height Weight Year Hometown Former School Renaldo Woolridge 0 G/F 6–8 208 Freshman North Hollywood, California Harvard-Westlake Tyler Smith 1 F 6–7 215 Junior Pulaski, Tennessee Iowa Bobby Maze 3 PG 6–2 185 Junior Suitland, Maryland Hutchinson (Kan.) C.C. Wayne Chism 4 F/C 6–9 242 Junior Jackson, Tennessee Bolivar Central Emmanuel Negedu 5 PF 6–7 240 Freshman Kaduna, Nigeria Brewster (N.H.) Academy Quinn Cannington 11 SG 6–4 165 Junior Knoxville, Tennessee Fulton Steven Pearl 22 SF 6–5 228 Sophomore Knoxville, Tennessee West Cameron Tatum 23 G/F 6–6 196 Redshirt freshman Lithonia, Georgia The Patterson School Tanner Wild 24 PG 6–0 170 Senior Huntington, West Virginia Huntington Josh Tabb 25 PG 6–4 196 Junior Carbondale, Illinois Harmony Community Prep J. P. Prince 30 SG 6–7 205 Junior Memphis, Tennessee Arizona Scotty Hopson 32 SG 6–7 185 Freshman Hopkinsville, Kentucky University Heights Brian Williams 33 C 6–10 267 Sophomore Bronx, New York Harmony Community Prep Ryan Childress 34 PF 6–9 235 Senior Cincinnati, Ohio Moeller Phillip Jurick 44 C 6–10 250 Freshman Chattanooga, Tennessee East Ridge

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=|Regular season

!colspan=12 style=|SEC Tournament

!colspan=12 style=|NCAA Tournament

Rankings

References