Oakland-Kentucky March Madness upset a program-defining win for Golden Grizzlies: ‘This changed everything’
Oakland took the college basketball world by storm Thursday with a monumental upset victory over Kentucky in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, defeating the Wildcats in an 80-76 thriller. While for the losing side, another early March Madness exit creates more questions than answers, the Golden Grizzlies are now postseason darlings.
The Horizon League champions, who landed in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time since moving up to Division I, outperformed their seeding as the No. 14 team in the South Region. Their triumph over a perennial power on the sport’s biggest stage was nothing short of a program-defining moment.
“This changed everything tonight,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said after the game. “There’s nobody in the country that doesn’t know what Oakland basketball is. And I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of our school… Everything is in place for this program to take off, and maybe this is the ignition for it. So yeah, it means the world.”
“I got a lot of crap about what I said, and I was shocked by that. People just couldn’t believe that I said I wanted Kentucky. And they took it all wrong. I mean it was — we had a chance to play on primetime, and I knew my team’s good, and I knew that they deserved the chance to not play in somewhere out where nobody’s paying attention and, ‘Oh, that team won’ and showed the highlights. 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. I mean, did anybody think that was lucky? I mean, that’s the worst we’ve shot from the free throw line all year, and we missed point blank shots early, but Gohlke put us on our back. And then we did — our defense carried. Defense travels. It carried us. Right?
“You know, I brought that up, the only reason I brought that up, honestly, is because just before I came into the press conference that day, somebody tweeted it at me. And so I knew that. I’m not that big of a nerd. All right. I just knew it because I had just read it and it seemed the right thing to say. But honestly, the Kentucky fans that thought I was — that was the biggest compliment I could give you, that you’re the blue blood, the blue blood, that your fanbase is the best, that you have the best coach and all that kind of stuff. That was just a compliment. It didn’t mean anything but that.”
“Longevity. You stay around long enough you’re going to get lucky, right? I got lucky to have this group of kids. My staff recruited them. They’re the greatest group of kids. I mean, they’re just unbelievable. You heard these two guys. I mean, unbelievable kids, and that’s why we win. But I did say this in the press conference, I forget who asked me, but ‘Would this be the greatest win?’ and I said it would be for Oakland but not for me because of the Michigan stuff.
“I don’t know if you heard that or not. But 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. I’m going to say it again. We led the whole game, right? And every time they got the lead we came right back. If we were pretenders, we would have folded, and that’s what Jack meant by that Cinderella thing. We don’t look at ourselves that way. We’re not pretenders. We believe that we belong here.
“Trey Townsend physically in the second half went to work. Right? And I mean, we shot five free throws in the first half and they had 14. Yet when the game was over we made more free throws than they do because that’s how we play, physical. And we belong. I agree with Jack. We don’t want that Cinderella slipper. We want to be known as when we’re playing on Saturday, whoever we’re playing, we want the respect that this is a good basketball team.”
“Yeah. I wanted to say something, but I won’t. I’ll be classy. I think a few years ago, Michigan State was number one in the country, and we had a chance. The ball rolled around the rim, it didn’t go in and we lost in overtime. I’ve said many times, I have had nightmares about that game, and if that ball had gone in, it would have changed everything for Oakland basketball because we would have beaten the number one team in the country on national TV. Would have changed the amount of money that came in, maybe I’d have a practice facility, you know, all that kind of stuff.
“This changed everything tonight. There’s nobody in the country that doesn’t know what Oakland basketball is. And I’m really proud of that. I’m really proud of our school. I’ve spent a lifetime there. When I got there we were 9,000 students with 1,500 on campus. We’re 20,000 now. With 5,000 on campus. We’re thriving. We have a great president. I have a great athletic director. Everything is in place for this program to take off, and maybe this is the ignition for it. So yeah, it means the world. For me, a lifer there, you know, it’s just really special.”
“First of all, I think it’s because of the way we play. I think we handled the win, too. D.Q. got a little carried away with about 14 seconds to go or something, and he got it. I punched him right in the stomach, you know. Not physically. Verbally. But they saw the great kids and they saw really, really good basketball. But what I meant by that it would change their lives, in the lure of Oakland basketball, I mean they’re going to be back for a 10-year anniversary, a 20-year anniversary, a 30-year anniversary. They’re now the team.
“Jack Gohlke, as you just said, somebody said you’re a celebrity, and that’s what we’ve talked about. The whole thing down the stretch has been, once we knew we had won a ring, the whole banter in the locker room has been what’s it going to say on that ring. Right? What’s it going to say on that ring, just Horizon League Champ? NCAA? Sweet 16? Final Four? I’ve put that thought in their mind, and they’ve really battled for it, and they understand that their life got changed tonight, but it could get changed a hell of a lot more if we keep this thing going.”
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