2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season

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

2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationJanuary 7, 2009
through March 14, 2009
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)CBS College Sports Network
ESPN
Regular Season
Tournament
2008–09 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 20 Xavier12–4 .750  27–8  .771
Dayton11–5 .688  27–8  .771
Rhode Island11–5 .688  23–11  .676
Temple†11–5 .688  22–12  .647
Duquesne9–7 .563  21–13  .618
La Salle9–7 .563  18–13  .581
Richmond9–7 .563  20–16  .556
Saint Joseph's9–7 .563  17–15  .531
Saint Louis8–8 .500  18–14  .563
UMass7–9 .438  12–18  .400
St. Bonaventure6–10 .375  15–15  .500
Charlotte5–11 .313  11–20  .355
George Washington4–12 .250  10–18  .357
Fordham1–15 .063  3–25  .107
† 2009 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

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.[1][2]

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 Top 40 at 19th along with Saint Joseph's at 32nd and Temple at 38th.[3]

The Musketeers' Derrick Brown along with the Owl's Dionte Christmas were named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason top 50 candidate list in November.[4] Brown was also named to the Naismith Award watch list on December 18.[5] Another individual award, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award selected Christmas and Jimmy Baron of Rhode Island on their 30-man preseason candidate list.[6]

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 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.[7]

Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
Rank Team
1Xavier (44)
2Temple (12)
3Dayton (3)
4Saint Joseph's
5Charlotte (2)
6Massachusetts
7Saint Louis
8Richmond
9Rhode Island
10La Salle
11George Washington
12Duquesne
13Fordham
14St. Bonaventure

First-place votes in parentheses

[2]

Preseason All-A10 Team

First Team

Second Team

  • Rob Diggs, George Washington
  • Ricky Harris, Massachusetts
  • Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis
  • Lamont Mack, Charlotte
  • Chris Wright, Dayton

Third Team

Preseason A10 All-Rookie Team

Preseason A10 All-Defensive Team

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).[8]

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.[9] 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
Main article: 2009 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament

All the games were held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Conference awards & 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.

Week Player of the week Rookie of the week
November 16[10] Dionte Christmas, Temple Trey Blue, Fordham
Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's
November 23[11] Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island Eric Evans, Duquesne
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
November 30[12] Damian Saunders, Duquesne Chris Wright, Dayton
Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
December 7[13] Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
B.J. Raymond, Xavier
December 14[14] Dionte Christmas, Temple Jio Fontan, Fordham
Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
December 21[15] Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis Eric Evans, Duquesne
December 28<[16] Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's Eric Evans, Duquesne
Jio Fontan, Fordham
January 5[17] Aaron Jackson, Duquesne Willie Reed, Saint Louis
January 11[18] Derrick Brown, Xavier Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's
January 18[19] Dionte Christmas, Temple Alberto Estwick, Fordham
Chris Johnson, Dayton
January 25[20] Justin Harper, Richmond Kenny Frease, Xavier
Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's
February 1[21] Tasheed Carr, Saint Joseph's Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
B.J. Raymond, Xavier
February 8[22] Aaron Jackson, Duquesne Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
February 15[23] Lamont Mack, Charlotte Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis
February 22[24] Kevin Anderson, Richmond Kwamain Mitchell, Saint Louis
Rob Diggs, George Washington
March 1[25] Damian Hollis, George Washington Eric Evans, Duquesne
Aaron Jackson, Duquesne

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, Massachusetts
  • Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the Year: Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
  • Sixth Man of the Year: Delroy James, Rhode Island
  • Student-Athlete of the Year: Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis
  • Coach of the Year: Jim Baron, Rhode Island

[9]

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
  • Garrett Williamson, Saint Joseph’s

Academic Team

Rankings
2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference Weekly Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received Votes
AP Poll[26] PreWk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Wk 16Wk 17Wk 18
Charlotte
Dayton 27 26 30 30 37 41 42 36 26 31 25 31 30 33
Duquesne
Fordham
George Washington
La Salle
Massachusetts
Rhode Island 42 43 40
Richmond
Saint Louis
St. Bonaventure
St. Joseph's 53
Temple 45 43 33 35
Xavier 26 29 16 14 10 7 14 22 16 15 15 10 9 14 16 19 17 19 20

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

Rhode Island (1-1): Second Round

Duquesne (0-1): First Round

College Basketball Invitational

Richmond (2-1): Semifinal

References
  1. ""2008-09 Atlantic 10 Men's and Women's Basketball Prospectus."."Atlantic 10 Conference, 14 August 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  2. "Xavier The Choice To Seize 2008-09 A-10 Men's Basketball Title."Atlantic 10 Conference, 28 October 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  3. "Xavier Men's Basketball Ranked 19th By The Sporting News."Atlantic 10 Conference, 15 October 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  4. "Derrick Brown, Dionte Christmas Named To Wooden Award List."Atlantic 10 Conference, 7 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  5. "Reigning Naismith Trophy Winner Tyler Hansbrough Headlines 2008-09 Early-Season Watch List."Naismith Award, Atlanta, 18 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  6. "Three A-10 Basketball Student-Athletes Nominated For Lowe's Senior CLASS Award."Atlantic 10 Conference, 22 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  7. "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 11."Atlantic 10 Conference, 11 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  8. "Field Set For 2009 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship."Atlantic 10 Conference, 7 March 2009. Retrieved on 18 April 2015.
  9. "A-10 Announces Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams."Atlantic 10 Conference, Philadelphia, 9 March 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  10. "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 16."Atlantic 10 Conference, 16 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  11. "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 23."Atlantic 10 Conference, 23 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  12. "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 30."Atlantic 10 Conference, 30 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  13. "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 7."Atlantic 10 Conference, 7 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  14. "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 14."Atlantic 10 Conference, 14 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  15. "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 21."Atlantic 10 Conference, 21 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  16. "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 28."Atlantic 10 Conference, 28 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  17. "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 5."Atlantic 10 Conference, 5 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  18. "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 11."Atlantic 10 Conference, 11 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  19. "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 18."Atlantic 10 Conference, 18 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  20. "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 25."Atlantic 10 Conference, 25 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  21. "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 1."Atlantic 10 Conference, 1 February 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  22. "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 8."Atlantic 10 Conference, 8 Feb 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  23. "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 15."Atlantic 10 Conference, 15 Feb 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  24. "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 22."Atlantic 10 Conference, 22 February 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  25. "A-10 Notebook - Mar. 1."Atlantic 10 Conference, 1 March 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
  26. "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings - AP Top 25."ESPN.com. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
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