Has Oakland sharpshooter Jack Gohlke ever taken a two? "It's happened before, but maybe not tomorrow."

John Calipari singled out Oakland’s Jack Gohlke as a player at the top of Kentucky’s scouting report for one reason and one reason only: dude’s a sniper. The former Division II standout at Hillsdale College transferred up for his final season of college basketball and is now ranked second nationally in three-point attempts at 9.6 per contest. And he’s hitting 37% of them en route to 12.2 points per contest.

It didn’t take long for the 6-3 standout to jump out on tape when preparing for the Golden Grizzlies, a guy with truly limitless range.

“Gohlke will shoot them from half court now, I’m not lying,” Calipari said. “You’ll see a shot, what did he? Oh my gosh, he made it?”

Transferring up from the D2 level, he’s making every minute and touch count. If he gets it, there’s little doubt it’s going up. He’s earned that level of trust with his coaches and teammates, knowing the efficiency is going to always match the volume.

“If I caught it at halfcourt and I was open, I feel like I could put it up,” Gohlke said ahead of the matchup. “I have faith in my teammates and I’m going to get them the ball, as well, but I think they know I’ll put it up from anywhere. Coach (Greg) Kampe and my teammates, they give me the ultimate confidence and ultimate green light. I just go out there and play free.”

The how is the crazy part. It’s not about the production, but rather the shot selection. Gohlke has taken 335 total field goal attempts on the year, 327 of them coming from deep. In case you’re curious on that math, it’s eight total two-pointers on the entire season across 1,055 minutes played — and he made four of those.

One of them didn’t even technically go in the hoop!

“I remember one in the Cayman Islands where he didn’t really even want to shoot it, and he got it goaltended,” Oakland star Trey Townsend said. “It didn’t even go in, but it counted as an attempt for him so I know he wasn’t too happy about that. There aren’t very many of them.”

You can recall them, but the sample size is astronomically tiny.

“Some went in, some are blocked, but overall I recall a few,” junior forward Chris Conway added. “He can do it. They’re layups, he’ll get to the basket every now and then.”

Gohlke tries telling his teammates he took them in the past, but considering what he’s doing now, it’s hard to believe he’s being honest. And if you’re hoping to see any added to that grand total of eight Thursday evening against the Wildcats, I wouldn’t personally recommend putting your money on that.

He’s certainly not planning on it.

“I try to tell my teammates when I was playing Division II, I actually shot some twos. None of them believe me,” he said. “It’s happened before, but maybe not tomorrow.”

There’s just no need. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? He attempted 20 threes in a single game this season with 121 makes on the year. He lives and breathes taking threes. It’ll be on Kentucky to limit his production from beyond the arc to the best of the Wildcats’ abilities.

“It’s something I’ve worked for for years, getting all of those shots up for years. It’s a good fit here with Coach Kampe, he always has someone like that on his team,” Gohlke said. “Just trying to go out there and perform. The goal is to go out there and perform. The goal is to go out there and win a couple of games and make that journey last a little longer. That’s the plan.”

“I want to make a joke, but he’s the best shooter I’ve ever played with, for sure,” Conway added. “Some of the shots he makes, I’ve never seen before. I work out with him almost every day and it’s definitely not an accident that he does this stuff. He works on it every single day.”

“The confidence that Jack has to come to this level and shoot off of screens at that speed is such a special thing to see,” Townsend said.

Just how cool is that for a former D2 kid like Gohlke entering his very first March Madness, having someone like Coach Cal singling you out as a guy you must contain on the perimeter?

He hopes the verbiage changes to couldn’t contain on the perimeter.

“It’s definitely cool. It’s cool, but it’s something that I’m hoping he’s talking after the game like, ‘Dang, we didn’t cover him well enough.’ That’s my plan,” he said.

One potential caveat to that desire to exclusively take and make threes? His desire to punch one on the big stage. If he’s going to have his one shining moment, why not add a breakaway dunk to his highlight reel?

“He’s telling us if he gets an opportunity, he’ll throw down a dunk,” Townsend said. “Jack can dunk it pretty well, I’ll give him that. If he gets a fastbreak or an opportunity, he’ll throw one down for you guys. Just remember that.”

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