2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball team

The 2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball team was an NCAA Division I college basketball team that represented the University of Central Florida and competed in Conference USA. They played their home games at the UCF Arena in Orlando, Florida, and were led by head coach Kirk Speraw who was in his 16th season with the team. In the previous year, the Knights finished the season 16–15, 9–7 in C-USA play.[2]

2008–09 UCF Knights men's basketball
UCF Holiday Classic Champions
Conference	Conference USA
2008–09 record	0–14[1] (0–9[1] C-USA)
Head coach	Kirk Speraw
Assistant coaches	Mike Jaskulski Craig Brown Robert McCullum
Home arena	UCF Arena

2008–09 Conference USA men's basketball standings
	Conf			Overall
Standings	W	L	PCT	W	L	PCT
#3 Memphis†	16	0	1.000	33	4	.912
Tulsa	12	4	.750	25	11	.694
UAB	11	5	.688	22	12	.647
Houston	10	6	.625	21	12	.636
UTEP	10	6	.625	23	14	.622
UCF	7	9	.438	17	14	.548
Marshall	7	9	.438	15	17	.469
Tulane	7	9	.438	14	17	.452
East Carolina	5	11	.313	13	17	.433
Southern Miss	4	12	.250	15	17	.469
Rice	4	12	.250	10	22	.313
SMU	3	13	.188	9	21	.300
Rankings from AP Poll † Conference USA Tournament winner

In February 2012, UCF vacated its wins from the 2008–09 season after it was discovered that there was an ineligible player on the team.[1][3] The team's pre-sanction record was 17–14 (7–9). The "official" record stands as 0–14.

Roster

Name[4]	Number	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
David Diakite	15	G/F	6–6	205	Freshman	Washington, D.C.
P.J. Gaynor	21	F	6–7	200	Freshman	Jacksonville, Florida
Jakub Kusmieruk	13	C	7–4	300	Freshman	Sokołów Podlaski, Poland
A.J. Rompza	3	G	5–9	160	Freshman	Chicago, Illinois
Isaac Sosa	11	G	6–3	180	Freshman	Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Drew Speraw	10	G	6–2	175	Junior	Oviedo, Florida
Jermaine Taylor	1	G	6–4	215	Senior	Tavares, Florida
Amara Thompson	22	G	6–4	180	Freshman	Tucker, Georgia
A.J. Tyler	25	F	6–9	225	Sophomore	Palm Harbor, Florida
Jean Michel Yotio	34	F/C	6–9	235	Sophomore	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Taylor Young	12	G	6–1	195	Sophomore	Orlando, Florida
Kenrick Zondervan	13	F/C	6–9	240	Senior	Hoofddorp, Holland

Coaches

Name[4]	Type	College	Graduating year
Kirk Speraw	Head Coach	University of Iowa	1980
Mike Jaskulski	Associate Head Coach	St. Norbert	1976
Craig Brown	Assistant Coach	University of Florida	1995
Micah Byars	Director of Basketball Operations	University of West Florida	2006

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 11, 2008* 7:00 pm, no		Flagler	W 76–56	1–0	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
Regular season (Non-conference play)
November 16, 2008* 1:00 pm, no		North Carolina A&T	W 81–62	1–0	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
November 18, 2008* 8:00 pm, no		at Valparaiso	L 52–69	1–1	Athletics–Recreation Center  Valparaiso, IN
November 22, 2008* 9:00 pm, no		at New Mexico	W 72–71	2–1	The Pit Arena  Albuquerque, NM
November 26, 2008* 7:00 pm, no		at Ole Miss	L 46–78	2–2	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
November 29, 2008* 4:30 pm, no		vs. South Dakota State Cancún Challenge	W 66–64	3–2	Moon Palace Resort  Cancún, MX
November 30, 2008* 5:00 pm, no		vs. Morehead State Cancún Challenge	L 65–71	3–3	Moon Palace Resort  Cancún, MX
December 6, 2008* 7:00 pm, no		South Florida UCF–USF rivalry	W 71–63	4–3	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
December 12, 2008* 7:00 pm, no		Florida Tech	W 110–68	5–3	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
December 20, 2008* 6:30 pm, no		vs. Florida	L 61–89	5–4	Veterans Memorial Arena  Jacksonville, FL
December 22, 2008* 7:00 pm, no		Valparaiso	W 85–60	6–4	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
December 29, 2008* 7:00 pm, no		Penn UCF Holiday Classic	W 81–64	7–4	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
December 30, 2008* 7:00 pm, no		Chicago State UCF Holiday Classic	W 89–75	8–4	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
January 3, 2009* 7:00 pm, no		Holy Cross	W 85–70	9–4	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
January 6, 2009* 7:00 pm, no		Sam Houston State	W 70–57	10–4	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
Regular season (C-USA conference play)
January 10, 2009 5:00 pm, no		Memphis	L 66–73	10–5 (0–1)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
January 13, 2009 8:00 pm, no		at UAB	L 52–60	10–6 (0–2)	Bartow Arena  Birmingham, AL
January 17, 2009 4:00 pm, no		at UAB	W 77–52	11–6 (1–2)	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
January 21, 2009 7:00 pm, no		Southern Miss	W 73–61	12–6 (2–2)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
January 25, 2009 2:00 pm, no		Marshall	W 87–69	13–6 (3–2)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
January 28, 2009 7:00 pm, no		SMU	W 70–45	14–6 (4–2)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
January 31, 2009 2:00 pm, no		at Tulane	W 79–74	15–6 (5–2)	Fogelman Arena  New Orleans, LA
February 4, 2009 7:00 pm, no		Houston	L 69–97	15–7 (5–3)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
February 7, 2009 7:00 pm, no		at East Carolina	L 75–89	15–8 (5–4)	Minges Coliseum  Greenville, NC
February 11, 2009 7:00 pm, no		at UTEP	L 68–73	15–9 (5–5)	Don Haskins Center  El Paso, TX
February 14, 2009 7:00 pm, no		Tulsa	W 74–72	16–9 (6–5)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
February 21, 2009 7:00 pm, no		at Houston	L 72–77	16–10 (6–6)	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, TX
February 25, 2009 7:00 pm, no		Rice	L 66–69	16–11 (6–7)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
February 28, 2009 7:00 pm, no		at Marshall	L 62–67	16–12 (6–8)	Cam Henderson Center  Huntington, WV
March 4, 2009 7:00 pm, no		at Tulsa	L 70–79	16–13 (6–9)	Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
March 7, 2009 7:00 pm, no		East Carolina	W 74–71	17–13 (7–9)	UCF Arena  Orlando, FL
C-USA Tournament
March 11, 2009  no		vs. Southern Miss	L 53–77	17–14	FedEx Forum  Memphis, TN
*Non-Conference Game. Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

1. UCF responds to NCAA concerning alleged infractions (PDF)
2. 2007-08 UCF Men's Basketball Season Schedule/Results & Leaders Archived 2011-08-10 at the Wayback Machine
3. "UCF, NCAA investigation: Former UCF Athletic Director Keith Tribble responds to NCAA allegations". Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
4. "2008-09 UCF Knights Roster". Archived from the original on 2009-07-28. Retrieved 2011-01-23.