Can Greg Kampe, Oakland basketball pull off the upset over Kentucky? Our pick
PITTSBURGH — Greg Kampe is the longest tenured coach in college basketball, having spent 40 years at Oakland University.
When that residency began Ronald Reagan was president, the top grossing movie was “Beverly Hills Cop” and a gallon of gas cost $1.21.
Certainly, the landscape of college athletics is rapidly changing. That’s why there has been a changing of the guard in college basketball, as coaching legends like Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim and Jay Wright have all stepped away.
However on Wednesday, as he previewed Thursday’s NCAA tournament game between No. 3-seed Kentucky and his No. 14-seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies (7:10 p.m., CBS), there was Kampe, 68, talking as if he were ready to turn back the clock.
“Being around those kids and watching them grow and develop is what my job is supposed to be, and it’s what it’s always been at in Oakland,”he said. “Those are the things that motivate me. And as long as Oakland wants me, I’m going to do this. And I hope to get another 10 or 12 years because I love it.”
Nobody can last across four decades, in any profession, without an ability to adapt. Kampe said in some ways it’s happened naturally as the decades have passed; but one of his players, Blake Lampman, said he’s has seen it also happen very intentionally in the past few years.
The fifth-year standout from Haslett still remembers his freshman year in 2019-20 when some of his older teammates would come in wearing socks that didn’t match the team’s colors of black and gold. They would get one of two punishments: kicked out of practice or run stairs for the duration of it.
“Now, we got DQ Cole pulling up in Jolly Rancher socks and stuff like that,” Lampan laughed. “He’s definitely adapted and that’s kind of a testament to his success as a coach and how he’s able to stay a Division I basketball college for 40 years because he adapts with the times.”
When asked how and why he adapted, shortly before he oversaw his team’s afternoon shootaround at PPG Paint arena in downtown Pittsburgh, Kampe cited the same guy who’s been credited — or blamed — for transforming the game of basketball.
Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.
When Kampe began in the profession, coaches were drilled to make sure no player singled himself out above the team. Everyone stayed in uniform. Rules were strict. The concept was team-first.
But then?
“Curry goes out and is the MVP of the NBA finals wearing purple, green or some shoes and how am I going to sit there and tell our kids we can’t do that?” Kampe said. “I think you have to change in this business, and over the 40 years there’s been a lot of change. I just think the last three or four it’s really, really been noticeable that you have to change if you’re going to survive in this.”
There remain three to four non-negotiables within his program, lifelong staples like respect and being on time to everything. While some things will change, those won’t.
One would think Trey Townsend, a senior and legacy commit, can speak to as much. His father, Skip, played for Kampe and helped lead the program to its first 20-win season in 1987. He has been around Kampe since he could walk, however when asked last week if his coach had changed much, Townsend downplayed it.
That is until he got home to his father, who assured him how different things used to be.
“On the sideline, how he reacts to certain things,” Townsend smiled this time. “He’s definitely mellowed up.”
The reason for mellowing and adapting with the times for Kampe is simple. For one, the results have followed. But for two, and more importantly, so has the happiness, and that’s what it’s always been about.
“I want to keep doing this for a long time,” he said. “I don’t want to be that grumpy old man.”
What to know about Kentucky
Kentucky coach John Calipari and Kampe have been friends for decades, the two shared a hug in the hallway outside the media room in the bowels of PPG Paint arena, but will clash for the first time on the court.
The talent level is vintage Kentucky. True freshmen Reed Sheppard and Rod Dillingham are both seen as lottery locks in the upcoming NBA draft, while senior guard Antonio Reeves is another projected first round selection, who leads the team at more than 20 points per game.
The trio combines to shoot 46.9% from 3point range on 14.6 attempts per game.
“Those are what keeps me up at night,” Kampe said. “Trying to figure out how to stop that stuff.”
There’s also 6-foot-9 forward Tre Mitchell, the team’s best big man who averaged10 points and 7 rebounds and is coming back to his hometown of Pittsburgh. Kampe, always brutally honest, said he hopes the senior “presses” and tries to do too much in front of friends and family.
He admits he’s wishing the same for Adou Thiero, the team’s second leading rebounder, who is from nearby Leetsdale.
Beyond that, there’s not much to it. Calipari knows OU will run a “kind of funky” zone and UK will do what it normally does to try and break zone pressure. “There’s not going to be any tricks,” Calipari said.