Oakland's Greg Kampe ready to recreate Hoosiers vs. Kentucky

It’s been 70 years to the day since Bobby Plump, aka Jimmy Chitwood in the movie “Hoosiers,” hit the shot to give the Milan Indians the 1954 Indiana State Tournament title. Greg Kampe hopes his No. 14 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies have the chance to recreate that moment Thursday night vs. No. 3 seed Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. To him, it would be the type of upset that makes March Madness so special and a reason not to mess with perfection, aka the current 68-team format.

“The only reason I would be for expansion to the 96 or whatever they’re talking about is to keep us in it,” Kampe said. “If that’s the only way we’re going to stay in it, then I’m for it.

“What I’m saying is don’t keep us out. You know, we’re what make this tournament, the little guy. Why does everybody love ‘Hoosiers,’ right, the greatest movie, why? Because of the little guy. And today is the anniversary of the day that Jimmy Chitwood in real life made the shot. I don’t know if you knew that, but it is. Today is the anniversary where Milan beat South Bend 33 to 31 or whatever the score was and Jimmy made the shot that turned into the movie ‘Hoosiers.'”

Kentucky enters Thursday’s game as a 13.5-point favorite. An Oakland upset would indeed be epic, right up there with Saint Peter’s win over the Cats in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. I doubt it’s a coincidence that when asked about his favorite underdog moments in the tournament, Oakland guard Blake Lampman started with a very familiar name for Kentucky fans.

“The more recent one is — I’m going to probably butcher his name, but Doug Edert in St. Peters. It was crazy to see how he exploded. His name was everywhere.”

An Edert-like performance by Lampman or any of the Golden Grizzlies would be the worst nightmare for Kentucky. This is a make-or-break postseason in year 15 of the John Calipari era. The Cats haven’t been to a Final Four since 2015 or a Sweet 16 since 2019. Since then, Kentucky has one NCAA Tournament victory, last year’s first-round win vs. Providence. All season, Calipari has preached that this team is “Built for March,” but the Cats’ SEC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Texas A&M has Big Blue Nation on edge once again. The Golden Grizzlies would love to be the one to send them home.

“I think everyone loves a good underdog story,” Oakland star Trey Townsend said. “I think we’re very capable of beating a team like this and I think that just draws to the underdog story. People believe we can do it. We all believe we can do it. Our whole staff believes we can do it.”

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On Tuesday, Kampe raised some eyebrows when he said that Kentucky was the team he hoped to see in the NCAA Tournament the most because of potential matchup advantages inside. Kampe backtracked on those comments today, telling reporters he was only referencing the exposure the Oakland program would receive for facing college basketball’s “gold standard.” It was too late. In the open locker room session, Tre Mitchell told reporters he is motivated by Kampe’s comments, which he interpreted as a shot at Kentucky’s frontcourt.

“You know, coaches can say what they want to say. I’m not going to speak too much on it now, but it is what it is. You can have your opinions, you can have your viewpoints, but let the game do the talking at the end of the day,” Mitchell told KSR. “It’s one thing to speak how you feel, but there’s another level to it when a little bit of disrespect comes into play. It’s not just me, it was basically like we have no inside presence whatsoever.”

Will Kampe’s comments backfire or will Jimmy Chitwood rise again on Thursday night? Here’s hoping this story doesn’t follow the fairytale ending.

“That’s what college basketball is,” Kampe said. “That’s why it’s one of the three greatest sporting events in the world. And just don’t let the Jimmy — Trey Townsend, Jack Gohlke, Blake — they could be Jimmy Chitwood tomorrow not. Don’t take that away from us.”