Oakland’s Greg Kampe
Not long ago Oakland was an average Division II basketball team. Then came Coach Greg Kampe. His first task was to try and move up the Grizzlies in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. His first two seasons, in 1984-1985 and 1985-1986, were losing seasons. The team finished 5-11 in conference play and there was obviously a lot of work to be done.
Coach Kampe’s recruiting helped turn things around in year three, but it would not be until 1994 when the Grizzlies made the Division II NCAA Tournament. They would for four straight years from 1994 to 1997. And then it was time to move to Division I. Would Coach Kampe be the guy who could lead Oakland into the highest level of college basketball? The program thought so and they were right.
Oakland was an independent team for one year before reclassifying into the Summit League. The first year they were eligible to win the Summit League, they did so with an 11-5 record. Five years and many close calls later, Oakland would come out of nowhere and earn their first ever Division I NCAA Tournament berth. The Grizzlies did not have a particularly strong team that year, but they got hot at the right time. Over the last five seasons Oakland has finished in the top three in the conference. The last two years they have gone to the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Kampe has successfully turned around a program and then successfully transitioned them into a consistent contender in a pretty tough conference. It has been 27 years so far, but Oakland has come a long way and Coach Kampe is not done yet.
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