2008–09 Providence Friars men's basketball team

2008–09 Providence Friars men's basketball
2008–09 Providence Friars men's basketball
NIT, #5, 1st Round
Conference	Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Record	19–14 (10–8 Big East)
Head coach	Keno Davis;
Assistant coaches	Chris Davis; Rodell Davis; Pat Skerry;
MVP	Weyinmi Efejuku
Home arena	Dunkin' Donuts Center
	Seasons ← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College in the Big East Conference. The team finished with a 10–8 conference record and a 19–14 record overall.

ConferenceBig East Conference (1979–2013)

Record19–14 (10–8 Big East)

Headcoach

Keno Davis

Assistant coaches

Chris Davis
Rodell Davis
Pat Skerry

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2008–09 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Louisville†	16	–	2	.889	31	–	6	.838
No. 4 Pittsburgh	15	–	3	.833	31	–	5	.861
No. 5 Connecticut	15	–	3	.833	31	–	5	.861
No. 11 Villanova	13	–	5	.722	30	–	8	.789
No. 23 Marquette	12	–	6	.667	25	–	10	.714
No. 13 Syracuse	11	–	7	.611	28	–	10	.737
West Virginia	10	–	8	.556	23	–	12	.657
Providence	10	–	8	.556	19	–	14	.576
Notre Dame	8	–	10	.444	21	–	15	.583
Cincinnati	8	–	10	.444	18	–	14	.563
Seton Hall	7	–	11	.389	17	–	15	.531
Georgetown	7	–	11	.389	16	–	15	.516
St. John's	6	–	12	.333	16	–	18	.471
South Florida	4	–	14	.222	9	–	22	.290
Rutgers	2	–	16	.111	11	–	21	.344
DePaul	0	–	18	.000	9	–	24	.273

† 2009 Big East tournament winner As of April 4, 2009^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

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In March 2008, head coach Tim Welsh was fired by the school after finishing with a losing record for the third time in four seasons. In April, Drake University head coach Keno Davis replaced him; Davis was named the 2008 Associated Press National Coach of the Year in his first and only season as a head coach at Drake.^[2] The Friars had previously been turned down by Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who coached Providence to the 1987 Final Four, George Mason University head coach Jim Larranaga, a Providence alumnus, and University of Massachusetts head coach Travis Ford.^[2]^[3]

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,^[4] 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, and on February 24, the Friars knocked off #1 Pittsburgh, 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 Louisville in the quarterfinals. They missed the NCAA tournament for a fifth straight season and lost in the first round of the NIT to Miami.

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[4]

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Jonathan Kale	Randall Hanke	Bilal Dixon	Ray Hall
PF	Geoff McDermott	Alex Kellogg	Chris Baudinet (W)	Jamine Peterson
SF	Weyinmi Efejuku	Marshon Brooks	Brian Beloin (W)	Connor Heine (W)
SG	Jeff Xavier	Brian McKenzie
PG	Sharaud Curry	Luke Burchett (W)

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Bilal Dixon PF	Jersey City, NJ	Queen of Peace HS	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	229 lb (104 kg)	Sep 25, 2007
Bilal Dixon PF	Recruit ratings: Scout: Rivals:
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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 Providence Signees". Rivals. Retrieved October 30, 2009. "2008 Providence Signees". Scout. Retrieved October 30, 2009. "2008 Providence Signees". ESPN. Retrieved October 30, 2009. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. Retrieved October 30, 2009. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved October 30, 2009.

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition games
November 1* 7:00 pm		University of Ottawa (CIS)	W 85–57		Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI
November 8* 7:00 pm		Slippery Rock (D-II)	W 105–84		Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI
Non-conference games
November 15* 7:00 pm		Northeastern	L 66–70	0–1	Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,086) Providence, RI
November 18* 7:00 pm		Dartmouth	W 100–82	1–1	Dunkin' Donuts Center (4,762) Providence, RI
November 20* 7:00 pm		Sacred Heart	W 111-87	2–1	Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,108) Providence, RI
November 22* 2:00 pm		Maine	W 83–62	3–1	Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,060) Providence, RI
November 27* 11:30 pm, ESPN2		vs. Baylor 76 Classic	L 56–72	3–2	Anaheim Convention Center (1,157) Anaheim, CA
November 28* 10:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Charlotte 76 Classic	W 67–62	4–2	Anaheim Convention Center (1,417) Anaheim, CA
November 30* 5:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. St. Mary's (CA) 76 Classic	L 75–81	4–3	Anaheim Convention Center (1,077) Anaheim, CA
December 3* 7:00 pm		Brown	W 86–62	5–3	Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,155) Providence, RI
December 6* 2:00 pm, Cox Sports		Rhode Island	W 66–65	6–3	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,600) Providence, RI
December 17* 7:00 pm		Jackson State	W 85–71	7–3	Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,158) Providence, RI
December 20* 4:00 pm, NESN		at Boston College	L 76–81	7–4	Conte Forum (6,880) Chestnut Hill, MA
December 22* 7:00 pm		Bryant	W 91–64	8–4	Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,103) Providence, RI
Big East regular season
December 31 4:00 pm, Cox Sports		St. John's	W 75–54	9–4 (1–0)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (3,037) Providence, RI
January 3 7:00 pm, Cox Sports		DePaul	W 62–54	10–4 (2–0)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,547) Providence, RI
January 7 7:00 pm, ESPNU		at Cincinnati	W 87–79	11–4 (3–0)	Fifth Third Arena (6,612) Cincinnati, OH
January 10 1:00 pm, ESPNU		at No. 9 Georgetown	L 75–82	11–5 (3–1)	Verizon Center (12,764) Washington, D.C.
January 17 9:00 pm, ESPN2		No. 14 Marquette	L 82–91	11–6 (3–2)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,221) Providence, RI
January 19 8:00 pm, Cox Sports		Cincinnati	W 72–63	12–6 (4–2)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,285) Providence, RI
January 22 7:00 pm, ESPNU		at Seton Hall	W 98–93 ^OT	13–6 (5–2)	Prudential Center (7,165) Newark, NJ
January 28 7:00 pm, Cox Sports		No. 15 Syracuse	W 100–94	14–6 (6–2)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,873) Providence, RI
January 31 4:00 pm, Cox Sports		at No. 2 Connecticut	L 61–94	14–7 (6–3)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT
February 4 8:00 pm, Cox Sports		No. 17 Villanova	L 91–94	14–8 (6–4)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,212) Providence, RI
February 7 4:00 pm, Cox Sports		at West Virginia	L 59–86	14–9 (6–5)	WVU Coliseum (11,091) Morgantown, WV
February 10 7:00 pm, ESPN360		at South Florida	W 77–62	15–9 (7–5)	USF Sun Dome (3,340) Tampa, FL
February 14 7:00 pm, Cox Sports		Rutgers	W 78–68	16–9 (8–5)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,246) Providence, RI
February 18 7:30 pm, ESPN2		at No. 7 Louisville	L 76–94	16–10 (8–6)	Freedom Hall (19,484) Louisville, KY
February 21 12:00 pm, Cox Sports		Notre Dame	L 84–103	16–11 (8–7)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,600) Providence, RI
February 24 7:00 pm, Cox Sports		No. 1 Pittsburgh	W 81–73	17–11 (9–7)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,887) Providence, RI
March 1 2:00 pm, ESPNU		at Rutgers	W 73–66	18–11 (10–7)	Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,122) Piscataway, NJ
March 5 7:00 pm, ESPN2		at No. 11 Villanova	L 80–97	18–12 (10–8)	The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA
Big East tournament
March 11 12:00 pm, ESPN		vs. DePaul First Round	W 83–74	19–12 (10–8)	Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY
March 12 12:00 pm, ESPN		vs. No. 5 Louisville Quarterfinals	L 55–73	19–13 (10–8)	Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York, NY
NIT
March 18* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 5	No. 4 Miami First Round	L 66–78	19–14 (10–8)	Dunkin' Donuts Center (5,645) Providence, RI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time^[5].

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	WK 17	Wk 18	Final
AP													RV				RV			n/a
Coaches																	RV

Recipient	Award(s)
Marshon Brooks	2009 Co-Coca-Cola Most Promising Prospect Award^[6]
Sharaud Curry	2009 Ernie D Team Leader Award^[6]
Weyinmi Efejuku	2009 All-Big East Honorable Mention^[7] 2009 USBWA All-District 1^[8] 2009 Jimmy Walker Most Valuable Player Award^[6] March 2: Big East Player of the Week^[9]
Ray Hall	2009 Thomas Ramos Academic Award^[6]
Randall Hanke	2009 John Zannini Coaches' Award^[6]
Jonathan Kale	2009 Ryan Gomes Most Improved Player Award^[6]
Geoff McDermott	2009 Marvin Barnes Defensive Player Award^[6]
Brian McKenzie	2009 Co-Coca-Cola Most Promising Prospect Award^[6]
Jeff Xavier	2009 Lenny Wilkens Hustle Award^[6]

2008–09 Providence Friars men's basketball team

Roster

Depth chart

Incoming recruits

Schedule

Rankings

Awards and honors

References

External links

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