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

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

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."Xavier The Choice To Seize 2008-09 A-10 Men's Basketball Title."
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'', 28 October 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015. 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 The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

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 Dionte Lamont Christmas (born September 15, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player for Ciclista Olímpico of the Liga Nacional de Básquet. He played college basketball for Temple. High school career Christmas attended Samuel ...

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 Jimmy Baron (born November 13, 1961) is an American disc jockey on commercial radio. He has also acted in several TV shows and movies from 1980 to 1985. Films include ''Risky Business'', '' The Sure Thing'', and ''Heart Like a Wheel''. Telev ...

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 Ahmad Naadir Nivins (born February 10, 1987) is a former American professional basketball player currently working as an assistant coach for the Lakeland Magic of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for Saint Joseph's. High school car ...

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

First-place votes in parentheses

Preseason All-A10 Team

First Team * Derrick Brown, Xavier *

, Temple * Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis * Chris Lowe, Massachusetts *

, Saint Joseph's Second Team * Rob Diggs, George Washington * Ricky Harris, Massachusetts * Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis *

Lamont Mack Lamont Mack (born March 16, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Dinamo Tbilisi. College career At Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas, he was a Junior College all-American and ranked as the 21st best player ...

, Charlotte * Chris Wright, Dayton Third Team * C. J. Anderson, Xavier * Kevin Anderson, Richmond *

, Rhode Island * Rodney Green, La Salle *

David Gonzalvez David Gonzalvez (born October 29, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for Tampereen Pyrintö in the Finnish Korisliiga. Standing at 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in), Gonzalvez usually plays at the shooting guard position. Career Gonzalvez ...

, Richmond

Preseason A10 All-Rookie Team

* Melquan Bolding, Duquesne *

Kenny Frease Kenneth Eugene Frease III (born October 18, 1989) is a former American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Xavier University. Career On August 3, 2012, Frease signed with Tigers Tübingen of Germany for the 2012–13 ...

, 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 Garrett Williamson (born June 15, 1988) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player for the London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). Born in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, Williamson played high school basketball ...

, 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)."Field Set For 2009 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship."
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'', 7 March 2009. Retrieved on 18 April 2015. 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."A-10 Announces Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams."
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'', Philadelphia, 9 March 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015. 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

All the games were held at the Boardwalk Hall in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

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.

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 Anthony Joseph Gaffney, Jr. (born November 14, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who most recently played for Ironi Nahariya of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, Israeli Premier League. He played college basketball ...

, Massachusetts * Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the Year: Aaron Jackson, Duquesne * Sixth Man of the Year:

Delroy James Delroy James (born June 4, 1987) is a Guyanese-born, naturalized American professional basketball player who plays for Real Estelí Baloncesto of the BCL Americas. At a height of 2.03 m (6'8") tall, and a weight of 105 kg (232 lbs.), he ...

, Rhode Island * Student-Athlete of the Year: Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis * Coach of the Year:

Jim Baron James Edward Baron (born March 20, 1954) is a retired American college basketball coach. He previously held the position of head coach at Saint Francis University, St. Bonaventure University, the University of Rhode Island and Canisius College. ...

, 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 *

, Saint Joseph’s Academic Team * Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island *

Luke Bonner Luke James Bonner (born March 28, 1985) is a retired American professional basketball player. Pro career Bonner started his professional career in 2009 with Hungarian club Albacomp, where he averaged 9.8 points and 3.8 rebounds, before signin ...

, Massachusetts * Jason Duty, Duquesne * Will Martell, Rhode Island *

Yves Mekongo Mbala Yves Lionel Mekongo Mbala (born July 25, 1987) is a Cameroonian basketball player who has played collegiately and professionally. College career After leading St. Patrick high school to the state title in their category and earning individual a ...

, La Salle

Rankings

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 The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

Rhode Island (1-1):

Second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

Duquesne (0-1):

First round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

College Basketball Invitational

Richmond (2-1): Semifinal

References

External links

"Men's Basketball - Archives 2008-09"
''

''. Retrieved on 18 April 2015.
"2009-10 A-10 season prospectus (review of 2008-09)"
, '' CBS Sports Network''. Retrieved on 18 April 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Basketball Season