2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Gonzaga University in the 2008-09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs are members of the West Coast Conference, were led by head coach Mark Few, and played their home games at the McCarthey Athletic Center on the Gonzaga campus in Spokane, Washington. The Zags finished the season 28–6, 14–0 in WCC play to claim the regular-season championship. They advanced to the championship game of the 2009 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament where they won the championship game against Saint Mary's. They received an invitation to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning 4 seed in the South Region. They defeated 13 seed Akron and 12 seed Western Kentucky before losing to the 1 seed and eventual champions North Carolina in the sweet sixteen.

2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
WCC tournament champions WCC regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	West Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 10
Record	28–6 (14–0 WCC)
Head coach	Mark Few (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Leon Rice (10th season) Tommy Lloyd (8th season) Ray Giacoletti (2nd season)
Home arena	McCarthey Athletic Center
Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

2008–09 West Coast Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 10 Gonzaga†	14	–	0		1.000			28	–	6		.824
Saint Mary's	10	–	4		.714			28	–	7		.800
Portland	9	–	5		.643			19	–	13		.594
Santa Clara	7	–	7		.500			16	–	17		.485
San Diego	6	–	8		.429			16	–	16		.500
Pepperdine	5	–	9		.357			9	–	23		.281
San Francisco	3	–	11		.214			11	–	19		.367
Loyola Marymount	2	–	12		.143			3	–	28		.097
† Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Preseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Abdullahi Kuso	31	F	6'9"	241	Senior (Redshirt)	Kaduna, Nigeria	Graduated
David Pendergraft	25	G	6'6"	223	Senior	Brewster, WA	Graduated
Larry Gurganious	20	F	6'5"	199	Sophomore (Redshirt)	Berkeley, CA	Transferred to UC Riverside
Theo Davis	34	F	6'9"	198	Freshman (Redshirt)	Brampton, ON	Transferred to Binghamton

2008 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Andy Poling^[1] PF	Portland, OR	Westview	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	232 lb (105 kg)	Aug 2, 2006
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 87
Grant Gibbs^[1] PG	Marion, IA	Linn-Mar	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	204 lb (93 kg)	Jul 17, 2007
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 89
Demetri Goodson^[2] PG	McKinney, TX	Klein Collins	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	164 lb (74 kg)	Oct 2, 2007
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 93
Michael Hart SG	Portland, OR	Jesuit	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	201 lb (91 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR   Rivals: NR  247Sports: NR  ESPN: NR
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: "2008 Gonzaga Rivals Commits". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008 Gonzaga Scout Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008 Gonzaga ESPN Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008. "2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008.

Roster

2008–09 Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 42 Josh Heytvelt 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) RS Sr Clarkston Clarkston, WA G 11 Andrew Sorenson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) RS Sr Olympia Olympia, WA G 22 Micah Downs 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 194 lb (88 kg) Sr Juanita Kansas Kirkland, WA G 2 Jeremy Pargo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Robeson Chicago, IL F 50 Ira Brown 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Willis Phoenix College Conroe, TX C 45 Will Foster 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 273 lb (124 kg) Jr White River Bonney Lake, WA G 15 Matt Bouldin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 224 lb (102 kg) Jr ThunderRidge Highlands Ranch, CO G 4 Chris Pontarolo-Magg (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Quincy Quincy, WA G 32 Steven Gray 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) So Bainbridge Bainbridge Island, WA F 5 Austin Daye 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Woodbridge Irvine, CA C 21 Robert Sacre     7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 247 lb (112 kg) So Handsworth North Vancouver, BC G 3 Demetri Goodson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 164 lb (74 kg) Fr Klein Collins Spring, TX F 14 Andy Poling   6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 232 lb (105 kg) Fr Westview Portland, OR G 10 Grant Gibbs   6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 204 lb (93 kg) Fr Linn-Mar Marion, IA G 30 Michael Hart (W)   6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Fr Jesuit Portland, OR	Head coach Mark Few (Oregon) Assistant coach(es) Leon Rice (Washington State) Tommy Lloyd (Whitman) Ray Giacoletti (Minot State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
11/15/2008* 4:00 pm, KHQ	No. 10	Montana State Billings	W 83–52	1–0	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
11/18/2008* 6:00 pm, KHQ	No. 9	Idaho	W 80–46	2–0	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
11/27/2008* 6:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 9	vs. Oklahoma State Old Spice Classic	W 83–71	3–0	Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (4,644) Lake Buena Vista, FL
11/28/2008* 2:30 pm, ESPN	No. 9	vs. Maryland Old Spice Classic	W 81–59	4–0	Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex  Lake Buena Vista, FL
11/30/2008* 4:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 9	vs. No. 12 Tennessee Old Spice Classic	W 73–64	5–0	Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (3,914) Lake Buena Vista, FL
12/06/2008* 10:30 am, Big Ten Network	No. 5	at Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge	W 70–54	6–0	Lucas Oil Stadium  Indianapolis, IN
12/10/2008* 7:00 pm, KHQ	No. 4	at Washington State	W 74–52	7–0	Beasley Coliseum (10,984) Pullman, WA
12/14/2008* 3:00 pm, FSN	No. 4	vs. Arizona Duel in the Desert	L 64–69	7–1	US Airways Center (6,207) Phoenix, AZ
12/18/2008* 6:00 pm, KHQ	No. 8	Texas Southern	W 84–42	8–1	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
12/20/2008* 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 8	vs. No. 2 Connecticut Battle in Seattle	L 83–88 ^OT	8–2	KeyArena (16,763) Seattle, WA
12/23/2008* 5:00 pm, KHQ	No. 7	Portland State	L 70–77	8–3	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
12/31/2008* 5:00 pm, CBS College Sports	No. 16	at Utah	L 65–66	8–4	Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,571) Salt Lake City, UT
1/7/2009* 6:00 pm, ESPN2		at No. 15 Tennessee	W 89–79 ^OT	9–4	Thompson-Boling Arena (22,326) Knoxville, TN
1/10/2009 5:00 pm, KHQ		Portland	W 67–50	10–4 (1–0)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
1/15/2009 6:00 pm, KHQ		Santa Clara	W 95–53	11–4 (2–0)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
1/17/2009 5:00 pm, KHQ		San Francisco	W 85–51	12–4 (3–0)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
1/22/2009 6:00 pm, KHQ	No. 23	at Pepperdine	W 83–69	13–4 (4–0)	Firestone Fieldhouse (2,342) Malibu, CA
1/24/2009 5:00 pm, KHQ	No. 23	at Loyola Marymount	W 93–60	14–4 (5–0)	Gersten Pavilion (3,796) Los Angeles, CA
1/29/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 20	No. 22 Saint Mary's	W 69–62	15–4 (6–0)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
1/31/2009 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 20	San Diego	W 64–47	16–4 (7–0)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
2/5/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 18	at Portland	W 93–78	17–4 (8–0)	Chiles Center (4,987) Portland, OR
2/7/2009* 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 18	vs. No. 14 Memphis ESPN College GameDay & Ronald McDonald House Charities Classic	L 50–68	17–5	Spokane Arena (11,339) Spokane, WA
2/12/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 19	at Saint Mary's	W 72–70	18–5 (9–0)	McKeon Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA
2/14/2009 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 19	at San Francisco	W 78–73	19–5 (10–0)	War Memorial Gymnasium (3,367) San Francisco, CA
2/19/2009 6:00 pm, KHQ	No. 17	Loyola Marymount	W 91–54	20–5 (11–0)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
2/21/2009 8:30 pm, ESPNU	No. 17	Pepperdine	W 92–58	21–5 (12–0)	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
2/26/2009 8:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 17	at Santa Clara	W 81–73	22–5 (13–0)	Leavey Center (4,700) Santa Clara, CA
2/28/2009 4:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 17	at San Diego	W 58–47	23–5 (14–0)	Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) San Diego, CA
3/3/2009* 6:00 pm, KHQ	No. 14	USC Upstate	W 90–40	24–5	McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA
WCC Tournament
03/8/2009 6:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 14	vs. Santa Clara	W 94–59	25–5	Orleans Arena (7,845) Las Vegas, NV
03/9/2009 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 12	vs. Saint Mary's	W 83–58	26–5	Orleans Arena (7,845) Las Vegas, NV
NCAA tournament
3/19/09* 4:25 pm, CBS	No. 10 (4)	vs. (13) Akron First Round	W 77–64	27–5	Rose Garden  Portland, Oregon
3/21/09* 5:30 pm, CBS	No. 10 (4)	vs. (12) Western Kentucky Second Round	W 83–81	28–5	Rose Garden (18,794) Portland, Oregon
3/27/09* 6:57 pm, CBS	No. 10 (4)	vs. No. 2 (1) North Carolina Sweet Sixteen	L 77–98	28–6	FedExForum (17,103) Memphis, Tennessee
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.

References

1. "Men's Basketball Signs Three High Schoolers. Poling, Gibbs, Goodson to join squad next season". November 14, 2007.
2. "Point guard Goodson commits to Gonzaga". October 3, 2007.