One of the most prestigious awards which the Chargers hand out is the Barnabas Award. The award is named after Barnabas in the New Testament, who was always supportive and encouraging of the better-known Apostles. This year's Barnabas Award recipient was junior Kelvin Adams (Madrid, Iowa). Adams saw action in 25 games and averaged 2.5 ppg.

Sophomore Kyle Semprini (Carroll, Iowa) was named Mr. Defense, while classmate Matt Geelan (Ruthven, Iowa) was named Mr. Hustle. Although Semprini led the Chargers in scoring (14.9 ppg), he also was second on the team with 40 steals. He set school records for three-pointers in a game (9) and three-pointers in a season (98). He and fellow sophomore Chase Vander Feen each finished the season with a conference-best 98 three-pointers. Semprini was a first team all-conference selection as well as an honorable mention all-American. Vander Feen was a second team all-conference choice after averaging 14.4 ppg and leading the team with a three-point percentage of 45.2 percent. Geelan averaged 9.4 ppg and led the team with 6.3 rpg and 20 blocked shots. He was second on the squad with 104 assists. For his efforts, Geelan was named an honorable mention all-conference selection. The team also handed out the Charger's Chargers Award to senior honorable mention all-conference selection Derek Mechaelsen for taking the most charges (16) during the course of the season. It is the second year-in-a-row that Mechaelsen has earned the award.  Mechaelsen averaged 9.6 ppg and 5.3 rpg, while leading the team with a 57.9 field goal percentage. Senior Casey Morgan was the recipient of the Jeremy Axlund Award, which is given to a player who gives extensively to the program possibly without the reward of extensive playing time. Morgan saw action in 13 games and contributed 1.2 ppg. This year's Most Promising Newcomer Award went to freshman Morris Smeader (Ankeny, Iowa). Smeader played in all 31 games and averaged 4.9 ppg. The team also recognized two junior varsity team members as the squad's most outstanding players: sophomore Brad Von Weihe (Treynor, Iowa) and freshman Eric Rohe (Le Mars, Iowa). Four years ago, Rohe's older brother Neil was also the recipient of this award. The elder Rohe went on to lead the Chargers in scoring as a senior and earn first team all-conference and honorable mention all-America honors.

The Chargers finished the 2008-09 season, the fifth under Head Coach Todd Barry, with a record of 23-8. They also qualified for the national tournament for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The Chargers went 14-4 in the GPAC and produced a perfect 8-0 home record against conference foes. Barry's Chargers were nationally-ranked for much of the season and climbed as high as No. 11. For his efforts, Barry was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Coach-of-the-Year.