No. 14 seed Oakland delivered an epic NCAA Tournament moment in the Round of 64 by upsetting No. 3 seed Kentucky, 80-76. Golden Grizzlies senior guard Jack Gohlke became an instant March icon by leading the team with 10 3-pointers off the bench.
While Gohlke claimed the team is “not a Cinderella,” Oakland is the early feel-good story of the tournament. So who is Gohlke, where is the school located (not where you think) and what else is there to know about the Golden Grizzlies?
Follow The Athletic’s live coverage of the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Oakland University is not located in California
Wait, what?
Oakland University is a public research university in Rochester, Mich., in the greater Detroit area. The school had 15,922 students (12,719 undergraduate, 3,203 graduate) enrolled in the fall of 2023, according to its website.
The men’s tournament’s South Region, including Oakland, in Michigan. (Map: John Bradford / The Athletic)
The school has competed in the Horizon League since 2013, when it left the Summit League. Oakland has eight men’s and 10 women’s NCAA sports, including men’s and women’s basketball.
Oakland moved to Division I in 1998.
Jack Gohlke, the star against Kentucky, is a 24-year-old grad student
Gohlke, a 6-foot-3 guard, transferred to Oakland for the 2023-24 season after spending five years at Hillsdale (Mich.) College, a Division II school. The 24-year-old from Pewaukee, Wis., began his college career at Hillsdale in 2018, putting him in the same freshman class as Zion Williamson — who is already a fifth-year pro.
Gohlke redshirted in 2018-19 and helped lead Hillsdale to a Division II Elite Eight appearance in 2022. Last season, he averaged 14.2 points and shot 40 percent from 3-point range as a junior.
Gohlke hit his first 3-pointer of Thursday’s game at the 13:52 mark of the first half. He went 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first 14 minutes of the game and finished with 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting, making him just the fifth player to knock down 10 3s in a men’s NCAA Tournament game.
“I know (the Wildcats) have draft picks and I know I’m not going to the NBA, but I know on any given night I can compete with those of guys and our team can compete with those type of guys,” Gohlke said. “That’s why I was so confident going into it. And that’s why I said we’re not a Cinderella, because when we play our A-game, we can be the best team on the floor.”
“I know they have draft picks, and I know I’m not going to the NBA…. but on any given I can compete with those type of guys”
Jack Gohlke’s confidence level is unmatched 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SwAhBpSkyz
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2024
It should also be noted that Gohlke almost exclusively shoots 3-pointers. Including Thursday’s game, he has attempted 347 3s and just eight 2s.
Coach Greg Kampe is in his 40th season at Oakland
Coach Greg Kampe, 68, has spent 40 years at Oakland. He took the coaching job in 1984 and oversaw the Golden Grizzlies move from Division II to Division I. He has taken Oakland to four NCAA Tournaments.
He became the longest-tenured men’s basketball coach following longtime Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s retirement last year after 47 seasons. Kampe has led Oakland to a 699-536 record.
Under Kampe, Oakland made its first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005 and returned in 2009 and 2010. Nineteen years later, Kampe and the Grizzlies achieved their first win in the round of 64 on Thursday.
“We just win close games,” Kampe said after the win over Kentucky. “We’ve done it all year.”
40 seasons later, Greg Kampe is moving on to the Round of 32 👏
Loyal to Oakland 🙌 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/fDnK2wF0XT
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2024
Their leading scorer’s father also played for Kampe at Oakland
Forward Trey Townsend, who leads Oakland in scoring with 16.9 points per game this season, has strong family ties to the school. His father, Skip, and his mother, Nicole, also played basketball for Oakland.
Skip helped lead the Golden Grizzlies to their first 20-win season in 1987. He shoots sports photography at the high school and college levels, according to his website, and worked Thursday night’s Oakland-Kentucky game. CBS’ broadcast showed Skip sitting with other photographers courtside.
Thursday was Oakland’s second NCAA Tournament win
In 2005, Oakland beat Alabama A&M 79-69 in the opening round in Dayton, Ohio, for its first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The team lost to No. 1 seed UNC 96-68 in the first round in Charlotte, N.C.
The Golden Grizzlies were a No. 14 seed when they lost to Pittsburgh in 2010 and a No. 13 seed when they lost to Texas in 2011.
Required reading
(Photo of Jack Gohlke: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
