Greg Kampe Finalist for Coach of the Year

Oakland University coach Greg Kampe has been named as a finalist for the 2011 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award and 2011 Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award. Coach Kampe had as good a year as any and should stand a good chance of winning both awards. Weird that Shaka Smart of VCU was left off both lists, not sure if that was an error or not.

The below are the other contenders:

2011 JIM PHELAN AWARD FINALISTS
Mike Brey Notre Dame
Rick Byrd Belmont
Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh
Billy Donovan Florida
Steve Fisher San Diego State
Greg Kampe Oakland
Mike Krzyzewski Duke
Steve Lavin St. John's
Thad Matta Ohio State
Stew Morrill Utah State
Sean Miller) Arizona
Matt Painter Purdue
Rick Pitino Louisville
Dave Rose Brigham Young
Bill Self Kansas
Roy Williams North Carolina

2011 HUGH DURHAM AWARD FINALISTS
Tommy Amaker Harvard
Randy Bennett St. Mary's
Rick Byrd Belmont
Ed Cooley Fairfield
Cliff Ellis Coastal Carolina
Jim Ferry Long Island
B.J. Hill Northern Colorado
Rob Jeter Milwaukee
Sydney Johnson Princeton
Greg Kampe Oakland
Jim Larranaga George Mason
Cuonzo Martin Missouri State
Dave Paulsen Bucknell
Clifford Reed Bethune-Cookman
Brad Stevens Butler
Blaine Taylor Old Dominion

Be Bold: Pick Oakland - Belmont - Richmond

Oakland U vs Texas Longhorns

#13 Oakland University Golden Grizzlies vs #4 Texas Longhorns
Somehow Oakland ended up drawing the best 4-seed in the tourney. How this game goes, depends on which Texas team shows. Texas is tremendously talented, but is inconsistent and their most talented players are two freshman and a sophomore. OU on the other hand has been very consistent all year, one of the two scoring teams in the nation and fears no one having played a brutal non-conference schedule. The Grizzlies are anchored by future NBA draft pick Keith Benson and the fiery scoring point guard Reggie Hamilton. Texas comes in underestimating the Grizzlies and get edged out 79-77.

Hey - I'm an OU alum, gotta believe! GO GRIZZ!

Oakland Golden Grizzlies Go Dancing

The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies are going back to the Big Dance in 2011 for the second year in a row after downing Oral Roberts 90-76 on Tuesday night at the Sioux Falls Arena. Oakland's offense for much of the night looked like a high tempo machine that Oral Roberts (or any Summit League team) wasn't going to stop.

The Grizzlies (25-9) have won 18 of its last 19 games and will find out what team they will play and where on Sunday when the 68-team tournament field is announced. The famed ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, current is predicting OU as a 13 seed matching up against 4 seed Wisconsin.

Last year Oakland entered the NCAA Tournament at 26-8 and was selected as a 14th seed. They went on to lose to 3 seed Pitt, 89-66. Last year Oakland considered defense the trademark of the team. However in 2011, OU has returned with a high-powered offense that has many scoring options including NBA prospect Keith Benson, scoring guard Reggie Hamilton, 3 point specialist Travis Bader and a do-it all small forward Drew Valentine. Whichever school gets selected to play OU in the first round of the tourney should not sleep on the Grizzlies or they could find themselves going home early.

OU Grizzlies Clean Up at Summit Awards

Not only did the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies run through the Summit League this year, finishing with a record of 17-1 (22-9 overall).

But they also cleaned up on the individual awards for the Summit League this year. Center Keith Benson was selected both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Guard Larry Wright is the top sixth man, and Greg Kampe is Coach of the Year.

Oakland #1 Seed in Summit League Tourney

Oakland University Golden Grizzlies will be the top seed once again in the Summit League tourney this year. They will be looking for a repeat of its 2010 title and once again, punch their ticket to the Big Dance.

The Summit League will be playing its tournament in Sioux Falls for the third consecutive season. For the second straight year, all tournament games will be televised, including five men’s contests that will have a national reach via ESPN Full Court plus the title game that will air nationally on ESPN2.

Quarterfinal action will begin Saturday night, with No. 1 Oakland (22-9, 17-1) vs. No. 8 Southern Utah (11-18, 7-11) at 6 p.m.

This year OU has won both meetings against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds by scores of 81 -65 and 82-68.

Kangas Signs Overseas

Former Oakland University men's basketball standout Erik Kangas signed a contract to play professional basketball in the LEB Silver League in Santiago, Spain for Rosalia.

"This is a once in a lifetime experience, not many people can say they've done this," said Kangas. "I get to go to a great country, where there are a lot of neat cities to visit and I'm getting paid to play basketball. You can't really get much better."

Kangas, a native of DeWitt, Mich., led the Golden Grizzlies to a 23-13 record during his senior season. He was named All-Summit League first team after breaking the conference record with 135 treys made. Kangas finished third in the nation with 3.9 treys made per game and finished his career with 1,540 points, 11th all-time in OU history.

"Since I got to play a lot and showcase myself at OU, that really helped out," continued Kangas. "The coach over there watched my games from OU and really liked me. Going through, learning all our offenses and the toughness our coaches taught here have prepared me to go over there."

Derick Nelson Out for Season

Oakland University Head Coach Greg Kampe announced that Derick Nelson (arguably OU's best player) will miss the remainder of the 2008-2009 season due to an ankle injury he suffered back on Nov. 13th and will take a medical redshirt which will make him eligible for next year.

"He experienced a great deal of pain in the State game, and afterwards he told me he couldn't go," said Kampe.

"We knew that it was going to be a long healing process. The bottom line is that it just hurts him too much and we are not going to do anything that would jeopardize his career. He is going to take the redshirt and come back next year, and I don't want to think about next year yet, but obviously it's going to make us better next season."

Golden Grizzlies Stomped Out by Centenary

OU can't keep losing to teams like Centenary College, who are in the bottom rung of the Summit League if they expect to be true contenders come conference tournament time. Oakland is usually one of the more talented teams in the Summit Conference, but you never can be sure of how they will play on the road. Prior to losing to Centenary, they had also lost the conference opener at Southern Utah, another team they are more then capable of beating.


From OUgrizzlies.com

After handing Centenary College its worst loss inside the Gold Dome (36 points) last season, the Gents (3-13, 1-3 Summit) returned the favor with a 20-point victory over Oakland University (10-8, 3-2 Summit), 80-60, on Thursday night inside the Gold Dome. The Golden Grizzlies shot just 10 percent from long range (2-19), while the Gents connected on 58 percent (11-19).

"We missed two easy buckets at the start of the game and it was like 5-4 through the first four minutes," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "Then (Nick) Stallings made some shots and they scored on like eight straight possessions and that was it. Tonight was the first time our freshman played like freshman."

Senior Erik Kangas led the way with 15 points, while sophomore Keith Benson tallied his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Drew Maynard had nine points with a career-high 10 rebounds and junior Johnathon Jones finished with 13 points and three assists.

CC's senior Nick Stallings scored a game-high 26 points, 20 in the first half. Junior Chase Adams finished with 17 for the Gents and sophomore Gary Redus was the final player in double figures with 14.

Centenary's bench outscored Oakland's bench 42-17 in the game. The Gents also scored 27 points off 16 OU turnovers and held the Grizzlies to a season-low 24 points in the first half.

The game started slowly with six lead changes and the final one coming at the 14:14 minute mark with the Gents on top 9-8. Centenary then outscored the Golden Grizzlies 25-3 run over a seven-minute span to build a 26-point lead and led by 21 at the break.

That deficit proved to be too much for Oakland as the Grizzlies never got within 14 points, creeping within 15 at the 15-minute mark. OU finished the game just 33 percent from the floor (19-57).

Golden Grizzlies Drop Summit Pre Season Favorites

The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies beat pre-season Summit League favorite North Dakota State at the O'Rena on Friday, 77-76. OU was down by two points with just 23 seconds left, when long distance sharp shooter Erik Kangas came off a screen and nailed the game winning 3-pointer with five seconds left to give Oakland the "W".

"What a shot," said OU Head Coach Greg Kampe "Finally at the end, during the last five minutes, I thought, well, we might as well give him that five minutes and see what he can do. His being on the floor helps us. The reality of it is we won against the preseason favorite in the league, a very good team."

Keith Benson led the Golden Grizzlies with 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Freshman Drew Maynard kicked in 15 points while junior Jonathon Jones scored 13 points which put him over 1,000 points for his career.

With the win the Golden Grizzlies improve to 3-1 in league play and 9-7 overall.

Wolverines Down Grizzlies at the Palace

The first three minutes of this game looked like a 3 point contest between the two teams as Michigan's first four baskets of the game all were 3-pointers, including the first three by freshman Stu Douglass, and the Grizzlies countered with two in those opening minutes to make the teams a combined 6-of-6 from beyond the arc.

At the half, the Wolverines shot an outstanding 10-of-18 on 3-pointers (55.6 percent) in the first half, and although U of M couldn't keep up that pace in the second half, they did manage to take Oakland's best punch in the second half and beat Oakland 89-76.

After the game OU coach Greg Kampe was quoted as saying "I've coached 31 years, and I haven't seen too many things like that. I told the team, 'If they go 10-for-18 in the second half, we're going to pat them on the back and tell that that's the damndest thing we've ever seen.

DeShawn Sims led the Wolverines with 20 points. Manny Harris had 15 points and 13 assists, and in his first game as a wolverine, Arizona transferLaval Lucas-Perry scored 14.

The Golden Grizzlies were led by forward Keith Benson's 23 points and 11 rebounds. Sharp shooter Erik Kangas scored 15 and Johnathon Jones added 13.

The Wolverines took a 16 point lead in the second half, but a scrappy Grizzlies team wouldn't go away. They countered with a 17-7 run to cut the lead to 65-59 with 8:34 left when the Wolverines took a timeout. Two minutes later, Oakland had cut its deficit to four points.

"We got it down to four, and they made a backdoor layup and they hit two 3's in a row that opened it up," Kampe said. "They're a good team, and that's what good teams do. They didn't beat UCLA and Duke for no reason."

Oakland was still with out their leading scorer from last year, Derrick Nelson. Nelson has been out the entire season thus far with a broken foot. Oakland's next game will also be at the Palace on Saturday against Michigan State.

Kampe Records Win Number 399

From ougrizzlies.com

Oakland University had four players in double figures led by senior Erik Kangas' game-high 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from long range, and junior Johnathon Jones dished out a season-high eight assists, scoring 13 points, to lead the Golden Grizzlies (3-4) to an 81-63 victory over Southeast Missouri State (2-4) in men's basketball action on Saturday at the Las Vegas Invitational in the Orleans Arena.

"Everybody scored in the first half, and that's what we are trying to get at," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "When you play like this, back to back nights and you've been on the trip that we have been on, you have to get contributions from more than just a couple guys. Early in the year that's what was happening, but now we're starting to get some guys that are comfortable."

The Golden Grizzlies win the lower bracket championship after defeating Delaware State (75-70) and SE Missouri State. Freshman Drew Maynard, who finished the game with 11 points, earned all-tournament honors after scoring a career-high 21 yesterday and averaging 16.5 for the tourney.

Also in double figures for the Grizzlies was freshman Blake Cushingberry, ending with 10 points including a career-high five points from the free throw line (5-7). Freshman Matt Samuels added eight points along with sophomore Will Hudson.

The game was never in doubt with the Golden Grizzlies leading by double digits for most of the game. The Redhawks crept within nine points on five occasions in the second half, with the last one coming with just under six minutes left in the game. Oakland responded with a 5-0 run over the next 50 seconds to take a commanding 14-point lead and never looked back.

SEMO was led by Jaycen Harning and Calvin Williams, each scoring 17 points for the Redhawks. The battle of the glass was close, with the Golden Grizzlies holding a 35-34 advantage. Oakland shot 53 percent (31-58) from the field in the game, going over 50 percent for the second consecutive game.

Coach Kampe now sits at 399 wins, hoping to get his 400th career victory at Southern Utah on Tuesday, Dec. 2, as Oakland begins Summit League action. Tip is slated for 9 p.m. ET in Cedar City and can be followed on via web streaming at ougrizzlies.com.

OU tops Delaware State Minus Grizzlies' Top Scorers

From ougrizzlies.com

The Oakland University men's basketball team placed five players in double figures, highlighted by freshman Drew Maynard's game-high 21 and redshirt sophomore Keith Benson's 15 points and six rebounds, as the Golden Grizzlies (2-4) completed a come-from-behind 75-70 victory over Delaware State (1-7) on Friday at the Las Vegas Invitational in the Orleans Arena.

"If I could give a game ball right now it would have to go to Strat (Dan Waterstradt)," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "He played with a lot of energy out there and got these guys going in the second half. It's tough when you don't have two of your leaders (Derick Nelson and Erik Kangas) on the floor and are playing all these freshmen now. But we did a better job in the second half with Drew (Maynard) and Cush (Blake Cushingberry) making shots."

Redshirt senior Dan Waterstradt had his best performance of the season so far, scoring a season-high 10 points and grabbed a season-high nine rebounds, just missing a double-double. Freshman Blake Cushingberry scored 11 points for the Grizzlies going 3-of-5 from behind the arc, while junior Johnathon Jones added 10 points.

The Hornets led most of the game, shooting 62 percent (16-26) from the floor in the first half and 57 percent (8-14) from three. The Golden Grizzlies then made an adjustment to guard the Hornets man-to-man and held them to 37 percent (10-27) in the second half.

"We have not even practiced that yet," said Kampe. "But we had to do something because they were getting open looks out there."


Oakland took its first lead of the game at the midway point of the second half on a layup by freshman Matt Samuels, 53-51, with 10:43 remaining in the game. Sophomore Will Hudson capped a 9-0 run by the Grizzlies on a layup as the lead grew to five points, 58-53, with just under 10 to go.

The Hornets fought back and got within one with just under three minutes in the game, but Cushingberry buried a big 3-pointer from the top of the circle to extend the Grizzlies' lead to four points and Jones completed an old fashioned three-point play to lead OU to victory.

Oakland will face Southeast Missouri State (2-3) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. SE Missouri defeated Longwood earlier 81-77.

Kansas State Beats Road Weary Grizzlies

From ougrizzlies.com

Junior Johnathon Jones scored 16 points, while senior Erik Kangas and freshman Drew Maynard each scored 11 points, but Kansas State (5-0) used 22 turnovers to score 27 points to defeat Oakland University (1-4), 83-64, on Tuesday night at the Bramlage Coliseum.

"I think we had tired legs tonight," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "They took advantage of that and went right after us and did a nice job on (Johnathon) Jones. We were not able to get the ball where we wanted to. A lot of it was their transition and forcing turnovers which was the story of the game. They were very good defensively. But, I think a lot of it was our legs as we traveled all the way across the country and now back across it."

The Grizzlies got within 10 points on a couple of occasions, but turnovers would lead to fast break points for KSU as the Wildcats led by 14 at the break, 39-25. Kansas State used a 16-7 run midway through the second half to extend the lead to 64-41 as OU fell by 19 points. Oakland will have two days off before taking on Delaware State (1-6) on Friday at the Las Vegas Invitational, Nov. 28-29. The games will be played at the Orleans Arena.

Golden Grizzlies Down Oregon Ducks

From ougrizzlies.com

On a night where it looked like Oakland was letting the game slip away, junior Johnathon Jones refused to let that happen, especially when he committed a foul with six seconds left in regulation to send Oregon's Tajuan Porter to the line for three shots, which he made to tie the game at 68-68. All Jones did is score 10 of his career-high 32 points in overtime to lead the Golden Grizzlies (1-1) past the Ducks (1-1) 82-79 (OT) on Monday night in McArthur Court.

"He can play anywhere in the country," said head coach Greg Kampe about Jones. "He proved it on a Pac-10 floor, and one of the hardest places to play in the country. JJ was the best player on the court tonight."

Senior Erik Kangas scored 18 points, 10 in the first half, and drilled three free throws in the final minute to give OU a 66-65 lead with just 33 seconds on the clock. After a miss by the Ducks, freshman Blake Cushingberry grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He then made both free throws to push the lead to three.

After the Ducks' Porter made his free throws to tie the game, Cushingberry had one last shot to end the game from the top of the key, a couple of feet behind the three-point line, but his shot sailed wide and the game went in to overtime.

Jones then took over once again. After Kangas made an old fashioned three-point play, Jones scored 10 of the next 11 points, including a fade-away from the corner with two seconds left to extend the lead to three points and give the Grizzlies their second straight win over Oregon.

With the win, the Golden Grizzlies snap a 16-game non-conference home winning streak for the Ducks.

"We had to learn how to win," said Kampe. "When Derick (Nelson) got hurt, we became a young team. We had two freshmen, three freshmen, four freshmen on the floor at one time, and they have to learn how to win. This is going to go a long way to make us a good team."

Redshirt sophomore Keith Benson fouled out of the game with 10 points and eight rebounds, coming close to his second straight double-double. Cushingberry ended the game with nine points and five rebounds.

Oregon's LeKendric Longmire poured in 18 points in the first half, but the Grizzlies kept him scoreless in the second half and overtime. Joevan Catron had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, along with Michael Dunigan's 15 points and 10 boards.

The Golden Grizzlies will return home for a couple of days before beginning a 13-day road trip. Oakland will face Syracuse on Friday night in the Carrier Dome. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. ET and can be heard on OU's flagship station WDTW (1310 AM) with Mario Impemba on the call.

OU Edged by Vikings

From The Oakland Press

Heartbreak Hotel was in Cleveland for Oakland’s men’s basketball team Saturday night. The Grizzlies led nearly the entire game and by as many 12, but couldn’t hold on. Oakland had a chance to force overtime, but a contested Johnathon Jones 3-pointer at the buzzer was no good.

“We’re disappointed we lost the game,” Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. “I was pleased with our team and it came down to a stretch in the second half when we didn’t get quality possessions and couldn’t extend the lead. They made some good, athletic plays on defense. We played pretty good and I like our defense. … We came in and competed against a good team in their gym, in front of their fans. And this is a learning curve and will make us a better basketball team.” The Golden Grizzlies also had to adjust to playing without leading scorer and rebounder Derick Nelson, who broke his foot in practice Thursday. The loss of Nelson hurt enough by itself, but also threw the team off because they only had one day to prepare.

Sophomore Keith Benson (Birmingham Detroit Country Day) led Oakland with 15 points and 11 rebounds and four blocks.

“We didn’t get him the ball enough.” Kampe said of Benson. “We got to get him the ball more. He still has to play in spurts though. He’s still just a sophomore, but he’s got to get stronger. He’s gotten way stronger than he was, but he still can’t play more than four or five minutes at a time. He gets winded. He’s 6-foot-11 and he’s got 10-foot long arms. That’s part of the maturing process.”

Erik Kangas added 11 points, Dan Waterstradt added seven points and six rebounds, Will Hudson finished with six points and six rebounds and Drew Maynard (Lake Orion) scored seven points in his Oakland debut before fouling out with 9:07 left.

The biggest surprise was Jones’ struggling offensively for Oakland. He finished 2-for-16 from the field with eight points, six rebounds and six turnovers in 38 minutes.

Oakland came out with a purpose and jumped out to a 17-7 lead highlighted by two Kangas 3-pointers and four quick points from Benson to start the game. The Grizzlies weathered the storm in the second half, but struggled to score down the stretch, scoring just five points in the final 6:30.

OU Grizzlies Men Ballers have tough schedule

The OU Grizzlies are accustomed to having a tough non-conference schedule in years passed.... and this upcoming season's schedule is no different. The Grizz square off against Oregon (Nov. 17), Syracuse (Nov. 21), Iowa (Nov. 23), Kansas State (Nov. 25), make an appearance in a Las Vegas Tournament (Nov. 28-29) and then have contests versus in-state foes Michigan (Dec. 20) and Michigan State (Dec. 27)

Grizzlies Add to Great Recruiting Class

From OUgrizzlies.com

The Oakland University men's basketball team has made yet another addition to its recruiting class, coach Greg Kampe announced Tuesday, as Matt Samuels has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete for the Golden Grizzlies in the 2008-09 season. The addition of Samuels rounds out arguably the top recruiting class in school history.

"We're extremely excited about Matt joining our program," said Kampe. "Our biggest remaining need in recruiting was the point guard position. Matt is a pure point with great speed and a Derick Nelson-type body, and can score the ball. I also think he can be a great defender because of his outstanding strength and quickness."

Samuels, a 6-0 Washington, D.C. native, averaged 22 points and five assists per game as a senior at Coastal Christian Academy in Virginia Beach, Va. Samuels played for the prestigious Richmond Squires AAU team and was heavily recruited, committing to Wyoming before a coaching change prompted Samuels to re-open his recruitment.

Samuels joins early signees Blake Cushingberry, who was listed as the sixth-best player in the state of Michigan by BankHoops.com and No. 128 nationally by ESPN.com as a shooting guard; Drew Maynard, who was ranked as the third-best player in the state of Michigan by BankHoops.com and the 36th-best shooting guard in the nation by ESPN.com, in addition to being a two-time all-league, all-area, and Oakland Press Dream Team member as well as a third-team all-state honor; and Jay Thames, who was ranked as the 36th-best power forward in the country by ESPN.com and the 10th-best player in the state by BankHoops.com, earning all-state, all-area, and all-conference honors along the way.

OU Grizzlies Land Huge Recruit...Literally

From OUgrizzlies.com

Oakland University men's basketball team continues to add to its already highly-touted 2008-09 recruiting class as Ilija Milutinovic (7-0, 255) has signed to play for the Golden Grizzlies next season. The recruiting class is now up to five and has talented players at every position.

"Not only is this a significant recruit because not only is he potentially a great player, but if it works out for him at Oakland University then it opens the door for us to recruit internationally," said OU Coach Greg Kampe. "There is a lot of hype with him and we have never had this much hype about a recruit before. He turned down six figures to play professionally in Serbia because he wants to go to the NBA.

"He is no doubt the most skilled big man Oakland has ever gotten, but at the same time that does not make you a great player. He still has a lot to learn and a lot to do. Ilija has decided to come to school and work at his game and he has the potential to be the best player to ever play at our level."

At 255 pounds, Milutinovic has the size to go along with the height. He was a member of the Serbia and Montenegro's Under-18 National Team and competed in the 2006 Albert Schweitzer Tournament, in Mannheim, Germany (one of the top tournaments for U-18 players), in which team came in third. He averaged 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks and took part in the 2006 ABCD Camp in Teaneck, N.J.