| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 2009–10 |
| Prev Year: | 2008–09 |
| Next Year: | 2010–11 |
| Team: | Cornell Big Red |
| Conference: | Ivy League |
| Short Conf: | Ivy |
| Coachrank: | 17 |
| Record: | 29–5 |
| Conf Record: | 13–1 |
| Hc Year: | 10th |
| Asst Coach1: | Nat Graham |
| Asst Coach2: | Woody Kampmann |
| Asst Coach3: | Kevin App |
| Champion: | Ivy League Champions |
| Bowl Result: | Sweet Sixteen |
The 2009–10 Cornell Big Red men's basketball team represented Cornell University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was coach Steve Donahue's tenth season at Cornell. The Big Red competed in the Ivy League and played their home games at Newman Arena. They went 13–1 in Ivy League play to win the championship for the third year in a row and received the league's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They earned a 12 seed in the East Region. They upset 5 seed and AP #12 Temple in the first round for the first tournament win in school history. They continued their success by upsetting 4 seed and AP #16 Wisconsin to advance to their first Sweet Sixteen where they lost to 1 seed and AP #2 Kentucky to finish their season at 29–5.[1] [2] [3]
The Cornell Big Red were the first Ivy League team to reach the Sweet Sixteen since the 1978–79 Penn Quakers and set an Ivy League record with 29 wins.[4] The team is the only Cornell basketball team to finish the season ranked in the polls and the only team to defeat two ranked opponents in a season.[5] During the season they were able to give number-one ranked Kansas a real challenge at Allen Fieldhouse where Kansas was unable to secure the lead for good until just 41 seconds remained.[6]
Source[7]
| Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Foote | 7'0" | 265 | C | Sr. | Lockwood, NY, U.S. | Spencer-Van Etten HS St. Bonaventure |
| 3 | Chris Wroblewski | 6'0" | 180 | G | So. | Highland Park, IL, U.S. | Highland Park, IL |
| 4 | Aaron Osgood | 6'9" | 230 | F | Jr. | Overlake, WA, U.S. | The Hill School |
| 5 | Errick Peck | 6'6" | 215 | F | Fr. | Indianapolis, IN, U.S. | Cathedral HS |
| 11 | Max Groebe | 6'4" | 200 | G | Jr. | North Miami Beach, FL, U.S. | Dr. Michael M. Krop HS UMass |
| 12 | Louis Dale | 5'11" | 180 | G | Sr. | Birmingham, AL, U.S. | Altamont School |
| 13 | Andre Wilkins | 6'5" | 198 | G | Jr. | Toronto, ON, Canada | Emery HS Blinn |
| 15 | Geoff Reeves | 6'4" | 180 | G | Sr. | Burlington, KS, U.S. | Burlington HS |
| 20 | Ryan Wittman | 6'7" | 215 | F | Sr. | Eden Prairie, MN, U.S. | Eden Prairie HS |
| 21 | Peter McMillan | 6'7" | 220 | F | Fr. | Brentwood, CA, U.S. | Northfield Mt. Hermon HS |
| 22 | Miles Asafo-Adjei | 6'2" | 170 | G | Fr. | Antioch, TN, U.S. | The Ensworth School |
| 23 | Johnathan Gray | 6'3" | 175 | G | Fr. | Tampa, FL, U.S. | Berkeley Prep |
| 24 | Adam Wire | 6'5" | 222 | C | Jr. | Southern Pines, NC, U.S. | Pinecrest HS |
| 25 | Jon Jaques | 6'7" | 220 | F | Sr. | Los Angeles, CA, U.S. | Harvard-Westlake School |
| 33 | Alex Tyler | 6'7" | 235 | F/C | Sr. | Clear Spring, MD, U.S. | Mercersburg Academy |
| 34 | Josh Figini | 6'9" | 200 | F | Fr. | Chisago Lakes, MN, U.S. | Chisago Lakes HS |
| 40 | Pete Reynolds | 6'8" | 220 | F | Sr. | Blair, NE, U.S. | Blair HS |
| 42 | Mark Coury | 6'9" | 240 | F/C | Sr. | West Bloomfield, MI, U.S. | Detroit Country Day School Kentucky |
| 55 | Eitan Chemerinski | 6'8" | 195 | F | Fr. | Potomac, MD, U.S. | Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School |
| Anthony Gatlin | 6'8" | 180 | F | Fr. | Pearland, TX, U.S. | Pearland HS Centenary | |
Source[8]
|-!colspan=9| Regular Season|-!colspan=10| 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
See also: 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. *AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.