2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season

(Redirected from 2008-09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season)

Sports season

2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Duration	January 7, 2009 through March 14, 2009
Number of teams	14
TV partner(s)	CBS College Sports Network ESPN
Regular season
Tournament
Basketball seasons
← 07–08 09–10 →

2008–09 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 20 Xavier	12	–	4	.750	27	–	8	.771
Dayton	11	–	5	.688	27	–	8	.771
Rhode Island	11	–	5	.688	23	–	11	.676
Temple†	11	–	5	.688	22	–	12	.647
Duquesne	9	–	7	.563	21	–	13	.618
La Salle	9	–	7	.563	18	–	13	.581
Richmond	9	–	7	.563	20	–	16	.556
Saint Joseph's	9	–	7	.563	17	–	15	.531
Saint Louis	8	–	8	.500	18	–	14	.563
UMass	7	–	9	.438	12	–	18	.400
St. Bonaventure	6	–	10	.375	15	–	15	.500
Charlotte	5	–	11	.313	11	–	20	.355
George Washington	4	–	12	.250	10	–	18	.357
Fordham	1	–	15	.063	3	–	25	.107

† 2009 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season marked the 33rd season of Atlantic 10 Conference basketball.

Preseason

Xavier University was seen as the favourite to win the league by coaches and media in the preseason poll after having won the regular season the two previous years and also reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

No A-10 side was in either the AP Poll or the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll top 25, Xavier dropping out from last season in 26th and 30th place respectively after losing 3 starters in the offseason, the university was in the lesser Sporting News Top 40 at 19th along with Saint Joseph's at 32nd and Temple at 38th.

The Musketeers' Derrick Brown along with the Owl's Dionte Christmas were named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason top 50 candidate list in November. Brown was also named to the Naismith Award watch list on December 18. Another individual award, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award selected Christmas and Jimmy Baron of Rhode Island on their 30-man preseason candidate list.

It was speculated if Christmas would be the first player in league history to lead the A-10 in scoring three seasons in a row whilst Ahmad Nivins of Saint Joseph's and Chris Lowe of Massachusetts also aimed to lead the conference for the third time, in field goal percentage and assists respectively.

Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll

Rank	Team
1	Xavier (44)
2	Temple (12)
3	Dayton (3)
4	Saint Joseph's
5	Charlotte (2)
6	Massachusetts
7	Saint Louis
8	Richmond
9	Rhode Island
10	La Salle
11	George Washington
12	Duquesne
13	Fordham
14	St. Bonaventure

First-place votes in parentheses

Preseason All-A10 Team

First Team

Derrick Brown, Xavier
Dionte Christmas, Temple
Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis
Chris Lowe, Massachusetts
Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's

Second Team

Rob Diggs, George Washington
Ricky Harris, Massachusetts
Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis
Lamont Mack, Charlotte
Chris Wright, Dayton

Third Team

C. J. Anderson, Xavier
Kevin Anderson, Richmond
Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island
Rodney Green, La Salle
David Gonzalvez, Richmond

Preseason A10 All-Rookie Team

Melquan Bolding, Duquesne
Kenny Frease, Xavier
Terrell Holloway, Xavier
Mark Lyons, Xavier
Paul Williams, Dayton

Preseason A10 All-Defensive Team

Lavoy Allen, Temple
Derrick Brown, Xavier
Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis
Chris Lowe, Massachusetts
Garrett Williamson, Saint Joseph’s

Regular season

Xavier captured its third consecutive Atlantic 10 regular season crown with a 12-4 record in Conference play, it had been undefeated in conference play until four late-season losses to Duquesne, Dayton, Charlotte, and Richmond. The last A-10 program to enter the tournament as #1 seed thrice in a row was Temple in 1998-00. It moved the university into the top 25 in the national rankings (see below) of both the AP Poll (17th) and the ESPN/USA Today poll (18th).

On individual records, Temple's Dionte Christmas entered tournament play tied with Player of the Year Ahmad Nivins at 19.2 ppg in his quest to lead the conference in scoring for a record third consecutive time. Nivins' 62.5% put him in the driving seat to equal Alexander Koul's record in 1995-97 as the only players in A-10 history to lead the league in field goal percentage three consecutive years. They would both achieve these feats in post-season, Christmas with 19.5 ppg and Nivins with 61.2%, Massachusetts' Chris Lowe finished second in his similar pursuit of assists leading.

Postseason

Atlantic 10 Tournament

Main article: 2009 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament

All the games were held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Conference awards and honors

Weekly awards

Atlantic 10 Players of the Week
Throughout the conference season, the Atlantic 10 offices name a player and rookie of the week.

Week	Player of the week	Rookie of the week
November 16	Dionte Christmas, Temple	Trey Blue, Fordham
November 16	Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's	Trey Blue, Fordham
November 23	Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island	Eric Evans, Duquesne
November 23	Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
November 30	Damian Saunders, Duquesne	Chris Wright, Dayton
November 30	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure	Chris Wright, Dayton
December 7	Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
December 7	B.J. Raymond, Xavier	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
December 14	Dionte Christmas, Temple	Jio Fontan, Fordham
December 14	Aaron Jackson, Duquesne	Jio Fontan, Fordham
December 21	Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis	Eric Evans, Duquesne
December 28<	Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's	Eric Evans, Duquesne
December 28<	Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's	Jio Fontan, Fordham
January 5	Aaron Jackson, Duquesne	Willie Reed, Saint Louis
January 11	Derrick Brown, Xavier	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
January 11	Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
January 18	Dionte Christmas, Temple	Alberto Estwick, Fordham
January 18	Dionte Christmas, Temple	Chris Johnson, Dayton
January 25	Justin Harper, Richmond	Kenny Frease, Xavier
January 25	Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's	Kenny Frease, Xavier
February 1	Tasheed Carr, Saint Joseph's	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
February 1	B.J. Raymond, Xavier	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
February 8	Aaron Jackson, Duquesne	Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
February 15	Lamont Mack, Charlotte	Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis
February 22	Kevin Anderson, Richmond	Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis
February 22	Rob Diggs, George Washington	Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis
March 1	Damian Hollis, George Washington	Eric Evans, Duquesne
March 1	Aaron Jackson, Duquesne	Eric Evans, Duquesne

All-Conference Awards

Player of the Year: Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Defensive Player of the Year: Tony Gaffney, Massachusetts
Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the Year: Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
Sixth Man of the Year: Delroy James, Rhode Island
Student-Athlete of the Year: Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis
Coach of the Year: Jim Baron, Rhode Island

Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams

First Team

Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island
Dionte Christmas, Temple
Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's
B.J. Raymond, Xavier

Second Team

Kevin Anderson, Richmond
Derrick Brown, Xavier
Tony Gaffney, Massachusetts
Rodney Green, La Salle
Chris Wright, Dayton

Third Team

Lavoy Allen, Temple
Ricky Harris, Massachusetts
Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis
Lamont Mack, Charlotte
Kahiem Seawright, Rhode Island

Honorable Mention

C.J. Anderson, Xavier
David Gonzalvez, Richmond
Marcus Johnson, Dayton
Chris Lowe, Massachusetts
Damian Saunders, Duquesne

Rookie Team

Melquan Bolding, Duquesne
Jio Fontan, Fordham
Chris Johnson, Dayton
Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure

Defensive Team

Lavoy Allen, Temple
Tony Gaffney, Massachusetts
Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's
London Warren, Dayton
Garrett Williamson, Saint Joseph’s

Academic Team

Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island
Luke Bonner, Massachusetts
Jason Duty, Duquesne
Will Martell, Rhode Island
Yves Mekongo Mbala, La Salle

Rankings

2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference Weekly Rankings
**Key:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received Votes
AP 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
Charlotte
Dayton				27	26	30	30	37	41		42	36	26	31	25	31	30	33
Duquesne
Fordham
George Washington
La Salle
Massachusetts
Rhode Island		42	43														40
Richmond
Saint Louis
St. Bonaventure
St. Joseph's	53
Temple	45					43												33	35
Xavier	26	29	16	14	10	7	14	22	16	15	15	10	9	14	16	19	17	19	20

Post Tournament Results

NCAA tournament

Xavier (2-1) : Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

Dayton (1-1): Regional second round

Temple (0-1): Regional first round

National Invitation Tournament

Rhode Island (1-1): Second round

Duquesne (0-1): First round

College Basketball Invitational

Richmond (2-1): Semifinal

References

""2008-09 Atlantic 10 Men's and Women's Basketball Prospectus."."Atlantic 10 Conference, 14 August 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "Xavier The Choice To Seize 2008-09 A-10 Men's Basketball Title."Atlantic 10 Conference, 28 October 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"Xavier Men's Basketball Ranked 19th By The Sporting News."Atlantic 10 Conference, 15 October 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"Derrick Brown, Dionte Christmas Named To Wooden Award List."Atlantic 10 Conference, 7 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"Reigning Naismith Trophy Winner Tyler Hansbrough Headlines 2008-09 Early-Season Watch List."Naismith Award, Atlanta, 18 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"Three A-10 Basketball Student-Athletes Nominated For Lowe's Senior CLASS Award."Atlantic 10 Conference, 22 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Nov. 11."Atlantic 10 Conference, 11 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"Field Set For 2009 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship."Atlantic 10 Conference, 7 March 2009. Retrieved on 18 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Announces Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams."Atlantic 10 Conference, Philadelphia, 9 March 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Nov. 16."Atlantic 10 Conference, 16 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Nov. 23."Atlantic 10 Conference, 23 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Nov. 30."Atlantic 10 Conference, 30 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Dec. 7."Atlantic 10 Conference, 7 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Dec. 14."Atlantic 10 Conference, 14 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Dec. 21."Atlantic 10 Conference, 21 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Dec. 28."Atlantic 10 Conference, 28 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Jan. 5."Atlantic 10 Conference, 5 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Jan. 11."Atlantic 10 Conference, 11 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Jan. 18."Atlantic 10 Conference, 18 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Jan. 25."Atlantic 10 Conference, 25 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Feb. 1."Atlantic 10 Conference, 1 February 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Feb. 8."Atlantic 10 Conference, 8 Feb 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Feb. 15."Atlantic 10 Conference, 15 Feb 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Feb. 22."Atlantic 10 Conference, 22 February 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"A-10 Notebook - Mar. 1."Atlantic 10 Conference, 1 March 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
"2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings - AP Top 25."ESPN.com. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.

External links

"Men's Basketball - Archives 2008-09", Atlantic 10 Conference. Retrieved on 18 April 2015.
"2009-10 A-10 season prospectus (review of 2008-09)" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, CBS Sports Network. Retrieved on 18 April 2015.

v t e Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball
Teams	Davidson Wildcats Dayton Flyers Duquesne Dukes Fordham Rams George Mason Patriots George Washington Revolutionaries La Salle Explorers Loyola Chicago Ramblers Rhode Island Rams Richmond Spiders St. Bonaventure Bonnies Saint Joseph's Hawks Saint Louis Billikens UMass Minutemen (leaving in 2025) VCU Rams
Championships & awards	Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
America East Atlantic 10 ACC Atlantic Sun Big 12 Big East Big Sky Big South Big Ten Big West CAA Conference USA Horizon Ivy MAAC MEAC Mid-American Missouri Valley Mountain West Northeast Ohio Valley Pac-10 Patriot SEC Southern Southland Summit League Sun Belt SWAC WAC West Coast

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