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 #NameHeightWeight (lbs.)PositionClassHometownPrevious Team(s)0Al Nolen6'1"180GSo.Minneapolis, MN, U.S.Minneapolis Henry HS1Paul Carter6'8"195FSo.Little Rock, AR, U.S.Little Rock Mills HSMissouri State-West Plains3Kevin Payton6'5"215G/FRJr.Camden, NJ, U.S.Camden HS4Travis Busch6'4"220G/FJr.Mounds View, MN, U.S.Mounds View HS5Devoe Joseph6'3"170GFr.Ajax, ON, CanadaPickering HS11Jonathan Williams6'9"250GSr.St. Cloud, MN, U.S.Notre Dame PrepSt. Cloud Apollo HS20Lawrence Westbrook6'0"195GJr.Chandler, AZ, U.S.Winchendon Prep22Devron Bostick6'5"210GJr.Racine, WI, U.S.St. Catharine's HSSW Illinois24Blake Hoffarber6'4"200GSo.Minnetonka, MN, U.S.Hopkins HS33Jamal Abu-Shamala6'5"210G/FSr.Shakopee, MN, U.S.Shakopee HS34Damian Johnson6'7"195FRJr.Thibodaux, LA, U.S.Thibodaux HS45Colton Iverson6'10"235F/CFr.Yankton, SD, U.S.Yankton HS50Ralph Sampson III6'11"220F/CFr.Duluth, GA, U.S.Northview HS
Incoming signees
2008–09 Schedule and Results
!colspan="8" style="text-align: center; background:#800000" | Exhibition
! colspan="8" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|Regular Season
! colspan="9" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|Big Ten Regular Season
! colspan="9" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|2009 Big Ten tournament
! colspan="9" style="text-align: center; background:#800000"|2009 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament
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
References