John Calipari has always amassed all the talent necessary to win a national championship in March Madness. However, the past few years have not been too kind to the Kentucky basketball squad. This was supposed to be the year when the Wildcats could make a deep run with guys like Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham. As fate would have it, someone who quite literally had their number brought those dreams to a screeching halt. Coach Greg Kampe's Oakland basketball squad along with Jack Gohlke's hot hand got the best of them.
Oakland against Kentucky was already one of the must-see matchups in March Madness. Coach Greg Kampe and Coach John Calipari have been friends for the longest time. When Selection Sunday hit, they texted each other and were sad that they had to face off in the first round. Fast forward a couple of days later, that day would come and Oakland came out on top. A certain star who broke the internet even hit the Michael Jordan shrug, via Bovada.
Where does the Gohlke shrug rank? pic.twitter.com/YGkc3bdHyF
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) March 22, 2024
Jack Gohlke was not too invested in his coach having deep ties with John Calipari. In fact, he knows that his squad could pull it off and make a deep run, via Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic.
“We're not a Cinderella,” he declared.
Coach Greg Kampe then backed up his squad to boost their confidence.
“This is not the end of it,” the Oakland head honcho said.
Oakland's Gohlke goes full Michael Jordan
This game was much like one of those deep Saint Peter's squads with Doug Edert and BYU with Jimmer Fredette. They had Jack Gohlke in the middle of it all. A centerpiece capable of shooting the lights out, picking apart defenses, and leaving opposing players in frustration. He went on an absolute tear and just shot from the outside. When the final buzzer sounded, Gohlke finished with 10 three-pointers.
To put this insane feat into perspective, only four other players in the history of March Madness have achieved this. He joins Jeff Fryer, Freddie Banks, Carsen Edwards, and Roburt Sallie. This man was born to shoot from three. Just in the past season, he has attempted 355 shots from deep while only chucking up eight two-point shots. He also makes these shots an insane 37% three-point shooting percentage while having played 1,055 minutes.
This was not the first time the Oakland sharpshooter attempted these shots. He also chucked the ball out from deep 20 times against Northern Kentucky. In the same breath, Kentucky only attempted 15 threes when they went up against IUPUI. All of this was a routine for Gohlke and no one could have stopped him, not even Rob Dillingham or Reed Sheppard.
He did not heat up without help from the rest of the Oakland basketball squad. Trey Townsend refused to leave the floor and played 39 minutes. The forward racked in an insane double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. His all-around performance also saw him dish out four assists. DQ Cole also had 12 points while grabbing eight boards and delivering four dimes.
Midnight has to come for Cinderella but as this squad declares, they are not one of those teams. Instead, Oakland is going to make sure the slipper still fits until the national championship game. Now, they just await the winner between NC State and Texas Tech.
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