The 2008–09 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in competitive college basketball during the 2008–09 NCAA Division I season. The 2008–09 season marked the team's ninety-second consecutive season as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Big Ten Conference. The team finished the season with a 21–14 overall record and a 9–9 conference record. The 9–9 conference record tied for seventh place in the 2008–09 Big Ten conference standings. Michigan was seeded seventh in the single-elimination 2009 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament where it advanced one round. They were seeded tenth in the South Regional bracket of the single-elimination 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, where it also advanced one round before losing to the Blake Griffin-led Oklahoma Sooners. Jevohn Shepherd and David Merritt served as team co-captains, and Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims shared team MVP honors.

The 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2008, and ended with the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 6, 2009, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The season saw six different teams achieve the AP #1 ranking during the year. Oklahoma sophomore Blake Griffin was the dominant individual performer, sweeping National Player of the Year honors. The season began with North Carolina becoming the first unanimous preseason #1 team, and ended with the Tar Heels dominating the NCAA tournament en route to their fifth NCAA title. UNC won its six NCAA tournament games by double digits, and by an average of 19.8 points per game. Junior Wayne Ellington was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.