The 2008–09 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

in the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. The team finished with a 10–8 conference record and a 19–14 record overall. In March 2008, head coach

Tim Welsh Tim Welsh (born October 4, 1960) is an American college basketball coach and the former head basketball coach at Providence College. Previously, he served as the head coach at Iona College. He also served briefly as head men's basketball coac ...

was fired by the school after finishing with a losing record for the third time in four seasons. In April,

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

head coach Keno Davis replaced him; Davis was named the 2008

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

National Coach of the Year in his first and only season as a head coach at Drake. The Friars had previously been turned down by

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

head coach

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...

, who coached Providence to the 1987 Final Four,

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

head coach Jim Larranaga, a Providence alumnus, and

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the Public university, public university system of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes six campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Lowell ...

head coach Travis Ford. Davis inherited all five starters from Welsh's final season with the Friars. However, prior to the season junior guard Dwain Williams transferred to Oregon State, while reserve forward Charles Burch was the team's lone departing senior. At home, the Friars twice defeated ranked opponents; on January 28 they defeated #15

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, and on February 24, the Friars knocked off #1

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, the first time the school had accomplished the feat since 1976. The Friars received votes in the AP Poll after each win, but were not ranked at any point in the season. Finishing with a 10-8 record in the Big East, the Friars began the 2009 Big East men's basketball tournament as an eighth seed, defeating DePaul in the first round before falling to top-seeded

in the quarterfinals. They missed the NCAA tournament for a fifth straight season and lost in the first round of the NIT to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Roster

Depth chart

Incoming recruits

Schedule

, - !colspan=9, Exhibition games , - !colspan=9, Non-conference games , - !colspan=9,

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

regular season , - !colspan=9, Big East tournament , - !colspan=9, NIT

Rankings

Awards and honors

References

External links

2008–09 Providence Friars men's basketball media guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Providence Friars men's basketball team Providence Friars men's basketball seasons Providence Providence Providence Providence