The 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2009, and ended with the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 5, 2010, at

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). It opened on August ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. The opening round occurred on Tuesday, March 16, 2010, followed by first and second rounds on Thursday through Sunday, March 18–21, 2010. Regional games were played on Thursday through Sunday, March 25–28, 2010, with the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

played on Saturday and Monday, April 3 and 5, 2010.

Season headlines

* The Duke Blue Devils and head coach

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021� ...

won their fourth national championship, defeating upstart Butler 61–59 behind their "big three" of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. The game was played in Butler's home town of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. * Krzyzewski became the third coach in NCAA history to win four championships, joining

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

(10) and

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA Division I men's basketball tournam ...

(4). *

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

became the first college team to reach the 2000 win mark by defeating Drexel 88–44 on December 21.

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

became the second with a win over Miami on March 2.

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

became the third with a win over Texas Tech on March 11. *

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

sophomore guard Rotnei Clarke set an SEC record by hitting 13 three-pointers in a game in the Razorbacks' November 13 season opener against Alcorn State. Clarke connected on 13 of 17 three-pointers and finished the game with 51 points. Clarke's 51 points was an Arkansas school record, while his 13 threes was good for fifth in NCAA history. * Prior to the season the

NCAA 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. ...

announced that Memphis would serve three years' probation and would vacate their record-setting 38-win 2007–08 season due to a fraudulent

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

score by star Derrick Rose and extra benefits given to Rose's brother under then-coach

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

. Memphis appealed the decision. The NCAA rejected the appeal during the NCAA tournament. *

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...

dismissed six players on September 25, following the arraignment of Emanuel "Tiki" Mayben on charges of cocaine distribution. The move left Binghamton with only seven scholarship players for the 2009–10 season and included the dismissal of star guard D.J. Rivera. Coach Kevin Broadus was placed on administrative leave and assistant Mark Macon served as interim coach. * The preseason AP All-American team was named on November 2. Luke Harangody of Notre Dame (57 votes), Cole Aldrich (49) and Sherron Collins (39) of

, Patrick Patterson of

(35) and Kyle Singler of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

(30) were tabbed. * Utah Valley gained full Division I status after a seven-year provisional period where they played a D1 schedule. This move was the first time that a school had moved to D1 directly from the NJCAA. Other schools to officially gain Division I status include Kennesaw State, NJIT and

North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...

. * The Great West Conference began league play in 2009–10 as the 32nd Division I conference. * Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody surpassed both the 2000-point and 1000-rebound marks during the season, becoming the first Fighting Irish player to do so. * Mercer guard James Florence,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

guard Devan Downey,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

guard Greivis Vásquez,

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

forward Dior Lowhorn, Morgan State guard Reggie Holmes, Western Michigan guard David Kool,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

forward Da'Sean Butler, Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds, Cornell forward Ryan Wittman and

guard Jon Scheyer surpassed the 2,000 point mark during the season. * Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim became the eighth Division I coach to win 800 games when the Orange defeated Albany 75–43 on November 9. * Tom Penders became the eighth head coach in NCAA history to lead four different schools to the NCAA Tournament when he coached the Houston Cougars to the Conference USA tournament title. Penders had previously led

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

to NCAA tournament berths. * In November, Evan Turner became the 34th player to record multiple triple doubles in a season. Over the course of the 2009–10 Big Ten season, he became the first player to finish in the top two in average points (1st, 20.4), rebounds (2nd, 9.2) and assists (2nd, 6.0) in

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

history. Along the way, he broke and rebroke Big Ten records for single-season (7) and career (10) Player of the week awards. * On February 22, Cole Aldrich was named the men's college basketball Academic All-American of the year. * On February 24, Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado became the NCAA's all-time leading shot-blocker. * On February 27, a contest between then-no. 4 Syracuse and then-no. 8 Villanova set the NCAA on-campus basketball attendance record, with 34,616 spectators packing the Carrier Dome."Jackson, Onuaku help Orange drop Wildcats in front of record crowd"
ESPN.com. Published 02-27-2010. Retrieved 02-27-2010. The Wildcats fell to the Orange, 95–77. * The rise and fall of

. Ranked in the top three from the beginning of the season until mid-January, including two weeks at #1, they were considered national title contenders. But they fell out of the top 25 less than two months later, lost two starters ( Doğuş Balbay and Varez Ward) to season-ending injuries, and lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. * On April 1, Deon Thompson of

appeared in the NIT Championship game, giving him 152 career game appearances. This set the

all-time career games played mark, formerly held by Wayne Turner of

and Walter Hodge of

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 ...

. * Third-year coach Tommy Amaker leads

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

to its most wins in school history (21) behind the play of rare Harvard NBA player Jeremy Lin.

Major rule changes

Beginning in 2009–10, the following rules changes were implemented: * The NCAA reduced the amount of time that college underclassmen can test the waters for the NBA draft and still retain their college eligibility. As of this season, players have until early May (rather than mid-June) to decide to return. * Secondary defenders must now establish their position outside of the zone between the backboard and the front of the rim to draw a charge.Committee approves changes for fall
/ref> * If a player is injured and unable to shoot his own foul shots, the replacement shooter must be chosen from the players currently on the court. * Instant replay may now be used to determine flagrant fouls.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls, October 29, 2009. Collegeinsider.com released the preseason Mid-Major Top 25 poll on November 3. This poll was meant to recognize the top teams outside of major conferences.

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 2009–10 season.

Regular season

Early-season tournaments

*Although these tournaments included more teams, only four played for the championship.

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty-one

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

seasons concluded with a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

. Conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament except for the winner of the Great West Conference tournament, although Great West Tournament champion

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

received an automatic bid to the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

was the only

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

conference that did not hold a conference tournament, instead sending its regular-season champion to the NCAA tournament.

Conference standings

Division I independents

Seven schools played as Division I independents. However, only Longwood and Savannah State were considered full

schools, as the rest were still in a transition phase from

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

. Charles Garcia of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

was selected for the Lou Henson All-America Team.

Informal championships

Temple finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

The NCAA Tournament tipped off on March 16, 2010, with the opening round game in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, and concluded on April 5 at the

. Of the 65 teams that were invited to participate, 31 were automatic bids while 34 were at-large bids. The 34 at-large teams came from 11 conferences, with the Big East receiving the most bids – eight. The tournament was marked by a number of significant upsets. The biggest saw Northern Iowa knock off #1 overall seed

69–67 on an Ali Farokhmanesh three-pointer in the waning seconds. Another surprise was

champion Cornell making a surprise run to the Sweet 16 – becoming the first Ivy school to win an NCAA tournament game since 1998.

made a big run in the NCAA tournament, defeating Arkansas Pine-Bluff (73–44), California (68–53), Purdue (70–57), and Baylor (78–72) in their region. In the semifinals, the Blue Devils routed

78–57 to make their 10th championship game appearance. In the end,

defeated surprise finalist Butler 61–59, after a three-point attempt by the Bulldogs' Gordon Hayward barely missed at the buzzer. Duke claimed its fourth National title as Blue Devil forward Kyle Singler was named Most Outstanding Player

Final Four –
Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). It opened on August ...
,
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Tournament upsets

A "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.

National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the National Invitation Tournament invited 32 teams to participate. There was much speculation during the NIT that the NCAA Tournament would expand to 96 teams and that 2010 could be the last NIT after 73 years. (Ultimately, the NCAA decided to expand only to 68 teams, keeping the NIT intact for the near future.)

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

defeated defending National Champion

79–68 in the Final on April 1. The Flyers' Chris Johnson was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

in New York City

College Basketball Invitational

The second College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament was held beginning March 16 and ended with a best-of-three final, ending March 31. VCU defeated Saint Louis 2–0 in the final series to win the title. The Rams' Joey Rodriguez was named tournament MVP.

CollegeInsider.com tournament

The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament was held beginning March 16 and ended with a championship game on March 30. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from " mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT. Missouri State defeated

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

78–65 to win the CIT championship in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. The Bears' Will Creekmore was named tournament MVP.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Wooden Award: Evan Turner, Ohio State * Naismith Award: Evan Turner, Ohio State * Associated Press Player of the Year: Evan Turner, Ohio State * NABC Player of the Year: Evan Turner, Ohio State * Oscar Robertson Trophy ( USBWA): Evan Turner, Ohio State * Adolph Rupp Trophy: John Wall,

* ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Evan Turner, Ohio State

Major freshman of the year awards

* USBWA Freshman of the Year: John Wall,

* ''

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 ...

'' Freshman of the Year: John Wall,

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse * Henry Iba Award ( USBWA): Jim Boeheim, Syracuse * NABC Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse * Naismith College Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse * Adolph Rupp Cup:

* ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

Other major awards

* Bob Cousy Award (Best point guard): Greivis Vásquez,

* Pete Newell Big Man Award (Best big man): Greg Monroe, Georgetown * NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State * Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player 6'0"/1.83 m or shorter): Sherron Collins,

* Lowe's Senior CLASS Award (top senior): Da'Sean Butler,

* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Scottie Reynolds, Villanova * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

metro area): Charles Jenkins, Hofstra * Elite 88 Award (Top GPA among upperclass players at Final Four): Matt Howard, Butler * Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award (Strong personal character): Román Martínez,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

CollegeInsider.com awards

* Ben Jobe Award (Top minority coach): Ed Cooley, Fairfield * Hugh Durham Award (Top mid-major coach): Mike Young, Wofford * Jim Phelan Award (Top head coach): Jamie Dixon,

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 ...

* Lefty Driesell Award (Top defensive player): Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State * Lou Henson Award (Top mid-major player): Keith Benson, Oakland * Lute Olson Award (Top non-freshman or transfer player): Sherron Collins,

* Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award (Coach with moral character): Bob Marlin, Sam Houston State

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season