2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season
Sports season
The 2008–09 Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball season marked the 33rd season of Atlantic 10 Conference basketball.
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
1
Xavier (44)
2
Temple (12)
3
Dayton (3)
4
Saint Joseph's
5
Charlotte (2)
6
Massachusetts
7
Saint Louis
8
Richmond
9
Rhode Island
10
La Salle
11
George Washington
12
Duquesne
13
Fordham
14
St. 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
Tu Holloway
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
All the games were held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City .
Conference awards and 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 RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received Votes
AP Poll [ 26]
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
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
Xavier (2-1) : Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
Dayton (1-1) : Regional second round
Temple (0-1) : Regional first round
Rhode Island (1-1) : Second round
Duquesne (0-1) : First round
Richmond (2-1) : Semifinal
References
^ ""2008-09 Atlantic 10 Men's and Women's Basketball Prospectus."." Atlantic 10 Conference , 14 August 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ a b "Xavier The Choice To Seize 2008-09 A-10 Men's Basketball Title." Atlantic 10 Conference , 28 October 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "Xavier Men's Basketball Ranked 19th By The Sporting News." Atlantic 10 Conference , 15 October 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "Derrick Brown, Dionte Christmas Named To Wooden Award List." Atlantic 10 Conference , 7 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "Reigning Naismith Trophy Winner Tyler Hansbrough Headlines 2008-09 Early-Season Watch List." Naismith Award , Atlanta, 18 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "Three A-10 Basketball Student-Athletes Nominated For Lowe's Senior CLASS Award." Atlantic 10 Conference , 22 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 11." Atlantic 10 Conference , 11 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "Field Set For 2009 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship." Atlantic 10 Conference , 7 March 2009. Retrieved on 18 April 2015.
^ a b "A-10 Announces Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams." Atlantic 10 Conference , Philadelphia, 9 March 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 16." Atlantic 10 Conference , 16 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 23." Atlantic 10 Conference , 23 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Nov. 30." Atlantic 10 Conference , 30 November 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 7." Atlantic 10 Conference , 7 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 14." Atlantic 10 Conference , 14 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 21." Atlantic 10 Conference , 21 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Dec. 28." Atlantic 10 Conference , 28 December 2008. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 5." Atlantic 10 Conference , 5 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 11." Atlantic 10 Conference , 11 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 18." Atlantic 10 Conference , 18 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Jan. 25." Atlantic 10 Conference , 25 January 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 1." Atlantic 10 Conference , 1 February 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 8." Atlantic 10 Conference , 8 Feb 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 15." Atlantic 10 Conference , 15 Feb 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Feb. 22." Atlantic 10 Conference , 22 February 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "A-10 Notebook - Mar. 1." Atlantic 10 Conference , 1 March 2009. Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Rankings - AP Top 25." ESPN.com . Retrieved on 17 April 2015.
External links