2008–09 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team represented The University of Texas at Austin in NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball competition as a member of the Big 12 Conference. The 2008–09 team posted a 23–12 record, finished in fourth place in the Big 12, and reached the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament.

2008–09 Texas Longhorns men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Big 12
Division	South
Ranking
Coaches	No. 23
Record	23–12 (9–7 Big 12)
Head coach	Rick Barnes
Home arena	Frank Erwin Center

2008–09 Big 12 men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Kansas	14	–	2		.875			27	–	8		.771
No. 7 Oklahoma	13	–	3		.813			30	–	6		.833
No. 9 Missouri †	12	–	4		.750			31	–	7		.816
Kansas State	9	–	7		.563			22	–	12		.647
Texas	9	–	7		.563			23	–	12		.657
Texas A&M	9	–	7		.563			24	–	10		.706
Oklahoma State	9	–	7		.563			23	–	12		.657
Nebraska	8	–	8		.500			18	–	13		.581
Baylor	5	–	11		.313			24	–	15		.615
Iowa State	4	–	12		.250			15	–	17		.469
Texas Tech	3	–	13		.188			14	–	19		.424
Colorado	1	–	15		.063			9	–	22		.290
† 2009 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Roster

	#	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Home Town
Gary Johnson	1	Forward	6–6	233	Sophomore	Houston, Texas
A.J. Abrams	3	Guard	5–11	165	Senior	Round Rock, Texas
Doğuş Balbay	4	Guard	6–0	165	Sophomore	Istanbul, Turkey
Damion James	5	Guard/Forward	6–7	222	Junior	Nacogdoches, Texas
Alexis Wangmene	20	Forward/Center	6–7	241	Junior	Maroua, Cameroon
Matt Hill	21	Center	6–10	241	Sophomore	Lincoln, Nebraska
Harrison Smith	23	Guard	6–2	195	Junior	Houston, Texas
Justin Mason	24	Guard	6–2	194	Junior	Amarillo, Texas
Connor Atchley	32	Center	6–10	228	Senior	Clear Lake (Houston), Texas
Dexter Pittman	34	Center	6–10	298	Junior	Rosenberg, Texas
Varez Ward	50	Guard	6–2	190	Freshman	Montgomery, Alabama
Clint Chapman	45	Forward/Center	6–10	235	Sophomore	Canby, Oregon

Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Varez Ward SF	Patterson, NC	The Patterson School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jun 1, 2008
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 71
J'Covan Brown SG	Port Arthur, TX	Memorial HS	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Nov 15, 2007
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 87
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR   Rivals: NR  ESPN: NR
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: "Texas 2008 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 3, 2008. "2008 Texas Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved December 3, 2008. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 3, 2008. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved December 3, 2008. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 3, 2008.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
2008/11/14* 7:00 p.m.	No. 7	Stetson	W 68–38	1–0	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2008/11/18* 7:00 p.m.	No. 7	Tulane	W 76–51	2–0	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2008/11/24* 2:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 6	vs. Saint Joseph's Maui Invitational	W 68–50	3–0	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, HI
2008/11/25* 6:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 6	vs. No. 8 Notre Dame Maui Invitational	L 80–81	3–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, HI
2008/11/26* 4:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 6	vs. Oregon Maui Invitational	W 70–57	4–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, HI
2008/11/30* 2:00 p.m.	No. 6	Rice	W 77–56	5–1	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2008/12/04* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 8	No. 12 UCLA	W 68–64	6–1	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2008/12/09* 8:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 6	No. 15 Villanova Jimmy V Classic	W 67–58	7–1	Frank Erwin Center  Austin TX
2008/12/13* 12:00 p.m.	No. 6	Texas State	W 81–73	8–1	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2008/12/16* 7:00 p.m.	No. 5	Texas Southern	W 88–72	9–1	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2008/12/20* 1:00 p.m., CBS	No. 5	No. 19 Michigan State	W 67–63	9–2	Reliant Stadium  Houston, TX
2008/12/23* 8:30 p.m., ESPN2	No. 9	at Wisconsin	W 74–69	10–2	Kohl Center  Madison, WI
2009/01/02* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU	No. 8	Appalachian State	W 78–43	11–2	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/01/06* 8:05 p.m., ESPN2	No. 7	at Arkansas	L 61–67	11–3	Bud Walton Arena  Fayetteville, AR
2009/01/10 4:00 p.m., Big 12 (ESPN+)	No. 7	Iowa State	W 75–67	12–3 (1–0)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/01/12 8:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 11	at No. 6 Oklahoma	L 63–78	12–4 (1–1)	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, OK
2009/01/17 3:00 p.m., Big 12 (ESPN+)	No. 11	at Texas Tech	W 71–49	13–4 (2–1)	United Spirit Arena  Lubbock, TX
2009/01/24 7:00 p.m., ESPNU	No. 14	Texas A&M	W 67–58	14–4 (3–1)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/01/27 8:00 p.m., Big 12 (ESPN+)	No. 11	at Baylor	W 78–72	15–4 (4–1)	Ferrell Center  Waco, TX
2009/01/31 3:00 p.m., Big 12 (ESPN+)	No. 11	Kansas State	L 81–85 OT	15–5 (4–2)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/02/04 8:30 p.m., ESPN2	No. 16	Missouri	L 65–69	15–6 (4–3)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/02/07 1:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 16	at Nebraska	L 55–58	15–7 (4–4)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, NE
2009/02/10 7:00 p.m.		Oklahoma State	W 99–74	16–7 (5–4)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/02/14 1:00 p.m., ESPN		at Colorado	W 85–76 (OT)	17–7 (6–4)	Coors Events Center  Boulder, CO
2009/02/16 8:00 p.m., ESPN		at Texas A&M	L 66–81	17–8 (6–5)	Reed Arena  College Station, TX
2009/02/21 8:00 p.m., ESPN		No. 2 Oklahoma ESPN College GameDay	W 73–68	18–8 (7–5)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/02/25 8:30 p.m., ESPN2	No. 25	Texas Tech	W 87–81	19–8 (8–5)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/02/28 6:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 25	at Oklahoma State	L 59-68	19–9 (8–6)	Gallagher-Iba Arena  Stillwater, OK
2009/03/02 8:00 p.m., ESPN		Baylor	W 73–57	20–9 (9–6)	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
2009/03/07 3:00 p.m., CBS		at No. 9 Kansas	L 73-83	20–10 (9–7)	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
Big 12 Tournament
2009/03/11 2:00 p.m., Big 12 Network		vs. Colorado	W 77–56	21–10	Ford Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2009/03/12 2:00 p.m., Big 12 Network		vs. Kansas State	W 61–58	22–10	Ford Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2009/03/13 6:00 p.m., Big 12 Network		vs. Baylor	L 70–76	22–11	Ford Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
NCAA tournament
2009/03/19  CBS		vs. Minnesota First Round	W 76–62	23–11	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, NC
2009/03/21 7:15PM, CBS		vs. No. 6 Duke Second Round	L 69–74	23–12	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

Rankings

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	Wk 19	Final
AP	7	7	6	8	6	5	9	8	7	11	14	11	16	NR	NR	25	NR
Coaches	8	8	7	8	6	5	8	7	7	11	15	12	17	NR	NR	24	NR

Awards and honors

• Rick Barnes, Legends of Coaching Award (adopted by the John R.Wooden Award Committee)