Greg Kampe accepted his first head teaching job years earlier than Tom Izzo, Mark Few, Roy Williams or Jay Wright ran their very own applications.
And whereas Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim had been successful nationwide championships, Kampe was placing his signature on Oakland University’s program.
Forty years after first arriving on Oakland’s campus close to Detroit, the 68-year-old Kampe returns to the NCAA Tournament for the primary time in 13 seasons as Division I’s teaching dean.
“I think there’s a lot of people that wanted me to (step away),” Kampe mentioned when requested if ever thought of departing through the faculty’s NCAA tourney drought. “I had some great teams. I’ve had five NBA players and three of them didn’t make (the tourney). That’s how special these guys are. I mean we lost four years in a row on a last-second shot.”
Actually, they misplaced thrice within the ultimate minute from 2016-19, however the level stays the identical. Earning a ticket to March Madness may be an elusive, irritating train, particularly for one-bid leagues.
Kampe believes a few of these dozen groups that missed out on tourney time had been deserving of bids within the 68-team subject. Then once more, such knowledge usually comes time.
Just how lengthy has Kampe coached?
Walt Hazzard of UCLA, Bob Huggins of Akron, Joey Meyer of DePaul and Bob Valvano at St. Francis (New York) had been in the identical rookie class as Kampe and he outlasted all of them.
He’s been round so a few years that he coached Skip Townsend within the Nineteen Eighties and now Skip’s son, Trey, is that this yr’s star participant and Horizon League Tournament MVP.
““I think Kampe’s softened up over the years, but he still knows what it takes to win,” Trey Townsend mentioned. “He wants the best for every single player no matter who you are, so the players who can accept that coaching, understanding truly he does want the best for you, that’s a lesson for success and every single player on this team knows it.”
Success may be measured some ways in Kampe’s world.
He presided over the Golden Grizzlies transition from Division II to Division I within the late Nineties. He wants two wins to affix Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis, Few and Izzo as the one energetic Division I coaches with 700 or extra. And he’s managed to outlive so many ups and downs that when Krzyzewski retired in 2022 season and Boeheim adopted him out the door final winter, Kampe grew to become Division I’s longest active-tenured coach.
“Last night, I had 147 text messages, I just grabbed my phone and I have 403 — I guess that’s 13 years of not going to the tournament, so everybody’s coming out of the woodworks,” Kampe mentioned after an 83-76 win over Milwaukee 83-76 added the Horizon League tourney title to their regular-season title. “Actually, this is the 13th year, so it was only 12 years we weren’t there.”
A dozen years Trey Townsend remembers nicely. He grew up attending Oakland video games, sitting behind the Golden Grizzlies bench, listening to his father ask whether or not he actually wished to play for a coach as loud as Kampe. The youthful Townsend by no means wavered.
Now, the 2 embark on a brand new quest — their first NCAA tourney win. Fourteenth-seeded Oakland (23-11) opens play Thursday in Pittsburgh in opposition to third-seeded Kentucky (23-9).
“If our league is smart, and I believe it is, they are going to get pictures of Trey in our arena when he was six or seven years old, holding up signs that he wanted to play at Oakland — with my bobblehead or whatever,” Kampe mentioned. “The national media would run with it so we could be the story of the week.”
It’s a pure thought for somebody who prefers his gamers get the highlight somewhat than himself, a attribute on full show following the Golden Grizzlies’ title run.
As gamers and followers celebrated, Kampe disappeared to do a neighborhood radio present. When it was time for him to chop the ultimate strand of the web, his gamers walked over to him, chanted his title and urged Kampe to climb the ladder.
At first, Kampe waved them off earlier than lastly obliging them and casually tossing the web to the gamers. It wasn’t that Kampe didn’t wish to be part of the celebration; he simply wished his gamers to bask within the win.
“Oakland basketball has been ingrained in me my entire life,” Trey Townsend mentioned. “I’ve been at games before and ever since I can remember, I always wanted to wear the uniform and be part of the team. So to win with Kampe it’s just such a crazy thing. I can’t put into words what this means, but I’m happy we’re still playing this late in March.”
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
