No one would have guessed that mid-major Oakland basketball would travel to Pittsburgh and knock off Kentucky. But that’s exactly what they did.
On Wednesday, Oakland basketball head coach Greg Kampe said nothing would ever top beating his family’s beloved Michigan Wolverines. But after Thursday night’s performance, he changed his tune.
“I lied. This is the greatest win that I’ve ever been a part of. As soon as that horn went off, I changed my mind immediately. This, on Primetime, against the great coach, the great program, and all that. And just the way we played,” Kampe said postgame.
Kampe has been coaching at Oakland for 40 seasons. He was there when they transitioned into a Division I program, he’s been through conference changes and he even coached current Golden Grizzly Trey Townsend’s father. All of those games he’s been a part of, and upsetting Kentucky was the greatest.
In the beginning, Kampe said he was just thrilled with the draw they received. You might be asking yourself why, and it’s a valid question. Kampe said he thought his players deserved the recognition of a primetime matchup.
“I wanted them to be Primetime, and I knew they would — there was never a doubt in my mind that this wasn’t going to be a game. There was doubt that we would win, but there was never a doubt that this would be a game because I’ve been with this team since June and I know who they are,” Kampe said.
Take Jack Gohlke for example. He set the record in PPG Paints Arena for most three-pointers scored, tied the NCAA Tournament record for three-pointers scored, and became a March Madness lure that we’ll speak about for ages. Would we know him without this game?
While the rest of the world sits in shock, Gohlke claims he knew this would happen all along.
“I know they (Kentucky) 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 guys and our team can. That’s why I say we’re not a Cinderella because when we play our A-game, we can be the best team on the floor,” Gohlke explained.
Maybe we should listen to Gohlke and stop calling lower-seeded teams Cinderellas. But what’s March Madness without one?
For Gohlke, he’s going to live in this moment with his teammates before he turns on his phone to realize he’s become the talk of social media.
“I’m a phone totally off a couple hours before the game and don’t look at it for a while after, just soak in the moment because that’s what I’m here to do with my teammates and my coaches. So I’ll probably check it in a couple hours,” Gohlke said.
14-seed Oakland basketball will take on 11-seed NC State on Saturday.
[…] became a household name after Oakland’s upset win against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. Townsend posted 17 points and 12 rebounds in that game and […]