The 2008–09 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in the sport of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

during the 2008–09 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). They were led by head coach

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head ...

, and played their home games in the

O'Connell Center The Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for the sixth president of the univ ...

on the university's

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

campus. The Gators were looking to build on their 24–12 record from the 2007–08 season.

Preseason

Entering the season, the Gators had to overcome the loss of

Marreese Speights Marreese Akeem "Mo" Speights (born August 4, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida Gators, where he was a freshman member of their NCA ...

, who left for the

2008 NBA draft The 2008 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2008, at the The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Washington Mutual Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this NBA draft, draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took t ...

after his sophomore season with the Gators. (Speights was selected in the draft by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

.) To replace him, the Gators added six freshmen to the team. The Gators won their two preseason games against Rollins and Warner.

Class of 2008

Florida Class of 2008 – ESPN
/ref> , - , colspan="7" style="padding-left:10px;" , Overall Recruiting Rankings:

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

– 9

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

– 10

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

– 2

Roster

Coaches

After the season, assistant coach Shaka Smart left to become head coach of the

VCU Rams The VCU Rams are the college athletics, athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atl ...

Schedule and results

Retrieved fro
Gatorzone.com
, - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition games , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style=, SEC Tournament , - !colspan=12 style=, National Invitation Tournament

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Florida Gators Men's Basketball Team Florida Gators men's basketball seasons

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Florida Gators men's basketball team Florida Gators men's basketball team