2008–09 Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team

The 2008–09 Mississippi State basketball team represented Mississippi State University in the 2008–09 college basketball season. Under head coach Rick Stansbury, the team played their home games at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi, and was a member of the Southeastern Conference.

2008–09 Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball
SEC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Round of 64
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	23–13 (9–7 SEC)
Head coach	Rick Stansbury (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Phil Cunningham Marcus Grant Robert Kirby
Home arena	Humphrey Coliseum

2008–09 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
South Carolina	10	–	6		.625			21	–	10		.677
Tennessee	10	–	6		.625			21	–	13		.618
Florida	9	–	7		.563			25	–	11		.694
Vanderbilt	8	–	8		.500			19	–	12		.613
Kentucky	8	–	8		.500			22	–	14		.611
Georgia	3	–	13		.188			12	–	20		.375
West
No. 21 LSU	13	–	3		.813			27	–	8		.771
Auburn	10	–	6		.625			24	–	12		.667
Mississippi State†	9	–	7		.563			23	–	13		.639
Alabama	7	–	9		.438			18	–	14		.563
Ole Miss	7	–	9		.438			16	–	15		.516
Arkansas	2	–	14		.125			14	–	16		.467
† SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The 2007–08 Bulldogs finished the season 23–11 (12–4 in SEC play) and reached the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament, where they barely lost to eventual runner-up Memphis.

Before the season

Departures

Five players from the 2007–08 team did not return for this season.

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Billy Begley	3	Guard	6'1"	190	Senior	Henderson, KY	Graduated (Walk-on)
Jamont Gordon	44	Guard	6'4"	230	Junior	Nashville, TN	Declared for 2008 NBA draft
Joseph Iupe	10	Guard	6'1"	160	Sophomore	Madison, MS	Left team (Walk-on)
Ben Hansbrough	11	Guard	6'3"	205	Sophomore	Poplar Bluff, MO	Transferred to Notre Dame
Charles Rhodes	23	Forward	6'8"	245	Senior	Jackson, MS	Graduated

Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Twany Beckham PG	Louisville, KY	Ballard HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Apr 13, 2008
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A
Dee Bost PG	Concord, NC	Concord HS	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	17 lb (7.7 kg)	Jul 11, 2007
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A
Jacquiese Holcombe F	College Park, GA	Georgia Perimeter College	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	May 5, 2008
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A
Romero Osby PF	Meridian, MS	Northeast Lauderdale HS	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Jun 18, 2007
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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: "Mississippi State 2008 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2008 Mississippi State Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "ESPN". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2008–09 Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 1 Jacquiese Holcombe   6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Georgia Perimeter College College Park, GA G 2 Ravern Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Coahoma County HS Lyon, MS G 3 Dee Bost 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Concord HS Concord, NC G 4 Twany Beckham 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Ballard HS Louisville, KY F 5 Romero Osby 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Northeast Lauderdale HS Meridian, MS G 10 Christopher Gay (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Sr William Carey College Hattiesburg, MS G 14 Rod Bryant (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So G. W. Carver HS Birmingham, AL G 15 Riley Benock 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Meade County HS Battletown, KY F 20 Taylor Luczak (W) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Glens Falls HS Glens Falls, NY G 22 Barry Stewart 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Shelbyville Central HS Shelbyville, TN F 24 Kodi Augustus 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Maine Central Institute Baton Rouge, LA G 25 Phil Turner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS So Grenada HS Grenada, MS F 32 Jarvis Varnado 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Haywood HS Brownsville, TN G 33 Brandon Bolen (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Madison-Ridgeland Academy Madison, MS F 44 Brian Johnson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Bishop O'Connell HS Laurinburg, NC F 45 Elgin Bailey 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 265 lb (120 kg) So Belaire HS New Orleans, LA	Head coach Rick Stansbury (Campbellsville) Assistant coach(es) Phil Cunningham (Campbellsville) Marcus Grant (Mississippi State) Robert Kirby (UTPA) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster