2009–10 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team were a National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

Division I college basketball

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

team representing Oakland University

Oakland University

Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...

. Oakland finished the season 26–9 overall, 17–1 in The Summit League and were the league's regular season and conference tournament champions. The Golden Grizzlies received The Summit League's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament

2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The first and second round games were played at the following sites:*March 18 / 20*March 25 / 27*March 26 / 28Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held on April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosted by the Horizon League and Butler University, as per the NCAA's...

and, as a #14 seed, lost to #3 Pittsburgh

2009–10 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team

The 2009-10 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their Head Coach was Jamie Dixon, who was in his 7th year as head coach at Pittsburgh and 11th overall at the University...

in the first round.

Preseason

Oakland was picked to win The Summit League championship

2009–10 The Summit League men's basketball season

The 2009–10 The Summit League men's basketball season is the 28th college basketball season in the conference's existence. The conference features ten teams that are competing for The Summit League regular season and tournament titles.-Pre-season:...

, receiving 34 of the 35 first place votes. The Golden Grizzlies returned three starters from the 2008–09 team

2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

The 2008–2009 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball team representing Oakland University....

, plus senior Derick Nelson, who sat out the majority of the previous season due to a foot injury.

Also returning for Oakland was senior point guard Johnathon Jones, who led all Division I players in assists and junior center Keith Benson

Keith Benson

Keith A. Benson, Jr. is a professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. He previously played for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team. Benson plays center and is the current The Summit League player of the year...

, who was being projected as a first round National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

draft pick. Benson, Jones and Nelson were each selected to The Summit League's pre-season all-league teams with Jones being selected as the pre-season Player of the Year.

Oakland's schedule included road games against the pre-season consensus number one and two teams, Kansas

2009–10 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 112th basketball season. Their head coach was Bill Self, who was serving his 7th year. The team played its home games in Allen...

and Michigan State

2009–10 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Tom Izzo who was in his 15th year. The team played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, MI and are...

Season

Oakland finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 6–7 record. OU lost all their games against BCS conference teams (0–5) and went 6–2 against the rest of the schedule, losing to Eastern Michigan

2009–10 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Eastern Michigan Eagles basketball team represented Eastern Michigan University in the college basketball season of 2009–10. The team was coached by Charles E...

and Memphis

2009–10 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Memphis Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Memphis in the 2009–10 college basketball season, the 89th season of Tiger basketball. The Tigers were coached by first-year head coach Josh Pastner, played their home games at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee and...

.

The Golden Grizzlies opened The Summit League schedule winning their first nine games, marking their best start in league history. During the steak Oakland defeated 67–64, their first win at the Mabee Center

Mabee Center

Mabee Center is an 11,300-seat multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Oral Roberts University, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.An adjacent building, smaller but similar in shape, is known as "Baby Mabee" and houses a television production studio....

in 10 years. The loss for ORU was just the sixth Summit League home loss for ORU in its last 59.

Records

Jones became The Summit League's all-time leading assists leader with 11 assists against on November 28, 2009. Jones broke the record of 626 held by Bryce Drew

Bryce Drew

Bryce Homer Drew is the head coach, and a former member, of the Valparaiso University Crusader men's basketball team...

of Valparaiso

Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball

The Valparaiso Crusaders Basketball team is the basketball team that represent Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. The school's team currently competes in the Horizon League. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2004. The Crusaders are currently...

.

Jones broke the conference and school records for consecutive free throw

Free throw

In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court , and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team...

s, having made 43 in a row from December 5 through January 23. Jones broke the school record of 33, set by Scott Bittinger in the 1987–88 season.

Jones also set Oakland school records for career games played and career games started. Jones passed Patrick McCloskey for most games played with 125 from 2004–08 and Dan Champagne, who set the previous record of 113 games started from 1997–2002.

Oakland tied The Summit League's record for consecutive regular season win with their 16th victory in a row against . The 16 wins span two seasons and tied the Cleveland State

Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball

Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball started in 1929. Before as Fenn College they were known as the Fenn College Foxes. Cleveland State has been in Division I since 1972. They are a member of the Horizon League Cleveland State was formerly in the Mid-Continent Conference...

team that won 16 in a row in 1992 and 1993.

Milestones

Benson became the 28th player in Oakland history to score at least 1,000 career points. Benson reached the plateau during a 99–53 victory over . Current teammates Jones (1,674) and Nelson (1,529) are also members of the 1,000-point club.

Jones scored his 1,500th career point in the January 24 victory against South Dakota State. Nelson scored his 1,500th point during the finals of The Summit League tournament

2010 The Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament

-External links:*...

in which he led Oakland to the title with a career-high 36 points. Jones was the 15th and Nelson the 16th player in OU history to join the 1,500-point club.

Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown (Previous school)
3	Travis Bader *	G	6'3"	164	Fr.	Okemos, MI (Okemos Okemos High School Okemos High School is a public high school in Okemos, Michigan, USA. It is the only high school in the Okemos Public Schools district. It is located southeast of the main campus of Michigan State University, between Bennett and Jolly Roads on the North and South, and Hulett and Hagadorn Roads on... )
34	Keith Benson Keith Benson Keith A. Benson, Jr. is a professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. He previously played for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team. Benson plays center and is the current The Summit League player of the year...	C	6'11"	221	Jr.	Farmington Hills, MI (Country Day Detroit Country Day School Detroit Country Day School is a private, secular school located in four campuses in Oakland County, Michigan, north of Detroit. The administrative offices, facility services, safety and security services, and the upper school are located in a campus in Beverly Hills, along with the middle school... )
22	Blake Cushingberry	G	6'3"	243	So.	Romeo, MI (Romeo Romeo High School Romeo High School is located in northern Macomb County, Michigan approximately 30 miles north of the city of Detroit.Romeo provides a comprehensive 9-12 academic curriculum for students, including College Prep, Independent Study, Vocational, Technical, and Mentor programs.Advanced Placement Courses... )
12	Ledrick Eackles	G	6'1"	184	Fr.	Zachary, LA (Zachary)
4	Reggie Hamilton *	G	5'11"	175	Jr.	Harvey, IL (UMKC)
11	Will Hudson	F	6'9"	233	Jr.	Madison, WI (Middleton Middleton High School (Middleton, Wisconsin) Middleton High School is a comprehensive public secondary school in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District. Established in 1879, it is located in the city of Middleton, Wisconsin. The school serves more than 2,000 students in grades 9-12 from the Middleton and Cross Plains areas. Middleton... )
23	Johnathon Jones	G	5'11"	160	Sr.	Okemos, MI (Okemos Okemos High School Okemos High School is a public high school in Okemos, Michigan, USA. It is the only high school in the Okemos Public Schools district. It is located southeast of the main campus of Michigan State University, between Bennett and Jolly Roads on the North and South, and Hulett and Hagadorn Roads on... )
33	John Kast	G	6'2"	181	Sr.	Clarkston, MI (Clarkston)
32	Drew Maynard	G	6'6"	231	So.	Lake Orion, MI (Lake Orion Lake Orion High School Lake Orion High School is a public secondary institution located in Orion Township, Michigan. It is a part of Lake Orion Community Schools.The large campus features a centralized commons area, which serves as a distribution center to the wings. The commons area features the cafeteria and student... )
50	Ilija Milutinovic	C	7'0"	247	So.	Niš, Serbia Niš Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,... (Milestone Christian Academy (MO Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It... ))
1	Derick Nelson	F	6'5"	236	Sr.	Lansing, MI (Bridgton Academy Bridgton Academy Bridgton Academy is an all-male college preparatory boarding school in North Bridgton, Maine. The school offers a true transitional year, to help students who have completed their senior year of high school gain the academic skills, study skills, self-discipline, and self-confidence necessary to... )
44	Jay Thames	F	6'8"	202	Fr.	Port Huron, MI (Port Huron Northern Port Huron Northern High School Port Huron Northern High School is a high school located in Port Huron, Michigan. The school's colors are blue and gold, and the mascot is the Siberian Husky... )
15	Drew Valentine	F	6'4"	212	Fr.	Lansing, MI (Sexton)
2	Larry Wright	G	6'2"	162	Jr.	Saginaw, MI (St. John's)

* Redshirt
Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...

ing 2009–10 season

Schedule