Everything that Oakland coach Greg Kampe said before NCAA Tournament game against Kentucky

Now in his 40th season as Oakland University’s men’s basketball coach, Greg Kampe is taking the Golden Grizzlies to the Division I NCAA Tournament for the fourth time.

His task? Trying to lead Oakland, a 14 seed that won the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles, to what would be a famous upset win over 3 seed Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament first round on Thursday night at PPG Arena in Pittsburgh.

Ahead of Thursday’s first-round matchup between the Golden Grizzlies and Wildcats, Kampe met with media members on Wednesday afternoon in Pittsburgh to discuss everything about Oakland’s season to date, his impressions of UK and more.

Here’s everything Kampe said on the eve of the March Madness matchup:

Q. Greg, asked the players this, and you’ve talked about — you’ve done a ton of radio interviews this week and you’ve talked about how you’ve changed, but with the player stuff, the player control, letting them wear their own shoes, letting them wear their different colored socks, letting them be them as opposed to all uniformity maybe years ago, what made you change that? Was that just kind of out of necessity given where the game is going?

Absolutely, Tony. Many people know Tom Izzo and I are really close friends and we talk all the time and he and I have discussed this on numerous occasions. Our generation of coaches was, you know, really strict rules, you know, we’re a team and that’s what we’re teaching about the team concept and that. And Steph Curry goes out and is the MVP of the NBA Finals wearing purple, green or some shoes and how am I going to sit there and tell our kids we can’t do that?

I think you have to change in this business, and over the 40 years there’s been a lot of change. I just think the last three or four it’s really, really been noticeable that you have to change if you’re going to survive in this. And so one of the things that I’ve decided to do is come up with some non-negotiables. There are non-negotiables. There’s three or four non-negotiables, and as long as I am allowing them to do other things, they’re going to have to follow those non-negotiables. And they’re simple ones, not being late, all the things you have to do to be successful in life. So yeah, I’ve changed quite a bit, but it was out of necessity. I mean, I want to keep doing this. I wanted to keep doing this for a long time. I don’t want to be that grumpy old man.

Q. You obviously know John Calipari and Kentucky quite well, but now you know that that’s who you’re playing. I guess what did you learn maybe about them the last 48 hours that you didn’t know or anything that makes you feel even more like you got a chance?

Well, because of the friendship, you follow your friends, you follow those teams. I watched their LSU game. I watched a couple of preseason non-league games, and I knew they’re an unbelievably talented young team, but for one of the differences in his team this year is he’s got a senior that’s averaging, what, 20 a game?

So that’s probably what has solidified them as a national champion contender, and they definitely are a national champion contender, their athleticism. And then I think the other thing that’s a little different for his team this year is, man, they can shoot it. Number one three-pointing shooting team in the country. So those are what keeps me up at night trying to figure out how to stop that stuff.

Q. Coach Calipari has made no bones about the fact that you and he do have a relationship. He’s always admitted that he doesn’t care to play against other coaches that he’s friends with, yet you seem to kind of relish this opportunity to take him on. Why is that?

I was just doing Westwood (radio) in there, and I think that got a little bit mis-skewed in that I made the comments that this is the best thing that we could have. It’s not. It’s a compliment to Big Blue Nation. It’s a compliment to Kentucky. You haven’t seen Oakland play at Rupp Arena. We play everywhere in the country. We haven’t been there because of the friendship. But getting Kentucky in this tournament is the greatest thing for Oakland, because we cut the nets down in our league tournament.

We got to stand under the confetti. We go our moment, and now this is all house money. So we come into this tournament, wouldn’t you want the spotlight to play the best? The reason this is such a good matchup for us is because you’re the best. Kentucky is known as the best program — it’s arguable, but many, many people — you have the greatest fan base in the country. There’s no argument with that. Izzo and he, to me, are the two best coaches in the country, and we’re playing at prime time, 7:00, CBS. We’re not on Tru(TV) or whatever. We’re on CBS at 7:00. Why wouldn’t Oakland want that?

This is our time to step into the spotlight and shine. Now, could we fall on our face? Sure we could. But why would we want to run from that? Why would I want to play some team that we might have a better chance to beat, right? I want the best, and we got the best. So that’s what those comments were meant to be.

Q. This is the fourth time in 20 seasons that you’ve taken Oakland to the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky knew they were in. When they went into the SEC tournament. You guys, though, a regular season, Horizon League championship, your fate is still determined by three days in March. As the 1-seed, do people understand how difficult it is as a mid-major to get into the NCAA Tournament without that safety net?

No, they don’t. I don’t think administrators understand. I got a boss that does, which I’m lucky. But I don’t think administrators do that. Surely fans don’t. Twenty-one of the 32 — is it 32 leagues? Twenty-one of the 32 first place championship number one seeds got beat in their conference tournament. Twenty-one of the 32. It’s the hardest thing there is to do. Is it fair?

A lot of people say, yeah, it’s fair, because that’s our championship, right? Like I said a second ago, cutting the nets down and the confetti, we got to experience that. And so that conference tournament for us is what this tournament is for the Kentuckys and Michigan States of the world. Now, now we also have a chance to go do something special, right? We have a chance to change my players’ lives. If we win tomorrow night, it will change my players’ lives. In 2016 or ‘17, we’re playing Michigan State. They’re number one in the country. We’ve got the ball, down two with five seconds to go, and a pro that I had, Kay Felder shoots a shot, gets fouled. It rolls around the rim and if it goes in, we beat the number one team in the country.

Would have changed Oakland, would have changed our lives. Would have changed those players’ lives. This group has another chance to do that for Oakland University and for themselves. So, yeah, it’s hard to get here, but when you do, look at the opportunities that you have. This is the holy grail for mid-majors, right? It is. And I’ve said this many times over the last week. The NCAA basketball tournament, and please don’t change it, please don’t change it, but it is one of the three greatest sporting events in the world. And I know you’re a soccer guy. You argue the World Cup, and you’re probably right. The Super Bowl and this tournament are the three greatest sporting events in the world. And Oakland and my players are a part of it and they get to cherish that for the rest of their lives.

Q. Coach, since RMU (Robert Morris) joined the Horizon League you’ve gotten a chance to play in Pittsburgh at least in the region a few times, playing against Coach Cal who’s from here. Can you talk about getting a chance to play on this stage in Pittsburgh?

Yeah, I’m a big Pittsburgh guy. I come here a lot. We used to play Pittsburgh all the time when Jamie (Dixon) was here and Ben (Howland). We had some great games here. I started shaking. We practiced over there today and I started shaking when I walked in that building because they beat us twice in overtime.

The baseball stadium here. I’m a big baseball guy. I’ve gone to every stadium in the country but four and I think it’s one of the three top stadiums. So I love this area. All right. The food’s good here, too. So when Robert Morris got in the league I really liked that. Andy Toole is a hell of a coach, great friend. So coming here, and then putting on top of it that Cal is from here, you know, this is his hometown, and Moon Township and all that kind of stuff. It’s just kind of really neat that we have the opportunity to do this in Pittsburgh. It sure beat going to Spokane, Washington, or Salt Lake City or someplace like that.

We’re going to have a really good contingent of Oakland fans here tomorrow, and I don’t think that would have happened if we were somewhere else. So I’m really, really happy with the draw, which is another reason I was glad we got Kentucky.

Q. Greg, with facing Calipari here with Kentucky having a couple Pittsburgh-area kids and himself and Orlando Antigua having Pitt ties, you come in, like you said, playing with house money as the underdog, what’s it like to feel like there’s a chance you could maybe win over the crowd, even though it may be pro-Kentucky at the start? And how much do you remember of Fang Mitchell and Coppin State doing that here back in ‘97?

I think it’s good and bad that they have those Kentucky kids because I’ve found out through the course of doing this over the years and having players going back home, sometimes that’s not good. You know, sometimes they get a little bit nervous, the first shot doesn’t go in, they press, which I’m hoping might happen tomorrow night a little bit, just a little. But so in 2011, maybe, we’re playing Texas in the NCAA Tournament, and Kansas was in the same region, and those two schools don’t like each other a lot, right?

So we’re playing Texas, and we have a chance to win the game, and the last five or six minutes of that game, that arena was all Oakland. It was unbelievable. You know, I mean, people that didn’t even know where Oakland was was up cheering, I mean every time we scored it was crazy that the underdog in this tournament — it’s what makes this tournament so great, the underdog, everybody in those stands ...

It’s what makes this tournament so great. If we play well tomorrow night — and we’re capable, I’m telling you, we’re capable — and it gets down to a close game, I’ve gotta believe, as big as Big Blue Nation is, there’s going to be a lot of people in here that they don’t want to play Kentucky in the next round; they’d much rather play Oakland. So if we can do our job, we’ll see that happen again like it did 12 years ago.

Q. With Trey Townsend growing up in Oxford (Michigan) nearby, just everything he’s been through, to see him kind of get rewarded with a chance of playing a tournament at the end of his career?

It’s unbelievable. I mean, if this was a Disney movie, the people wouldn’t believe it. They wouldn’t believe that this happened. If you see the pictures of him when he was little in our building at games, I mean, his mom every couple weeks, she’s my dentist, too. You know. But his mom every couple weeks sends — she finds these pictures on Facebook from when he was young and sends them. Quick funny story. So you probably saw where his MVP trophy, the dog broke it.

I don’t know if everybody saw that or not. But Dad’s a big photography guy. He’s got press passes. They were taking a picture of the dog with the net around its neck with the MVP trophy, and the dog went like that and knocked the trophy over and it broke. So I told Trey, I’m going to tweet that. I go check with your mom, and her answer was, well, there’s going to be a little bit of pain in his next visit if he tweets that. It’s just an unbelievable story.

And usually when kids of people you know come to your camp, they’re not very good, right, and then you gotta tell them, well, I don’t know if he’s going to be able to play. And I was like, oh, my God. This is unbelievable. This kid is really good. And his brother plays soccer at Oakland, and he’s a very good player. So it’s been — the greatest recruit I’ve ever had is his dad because we got his son 40 years later.

Q. Coach, the other day (Duquesne head coach) Keith Dambrot announced he was retiring. I got a chance to talk to him, he goes, look, I’m 65. I’m just not built to do this until I’m 70. I can’t do that. Look, you’re in better shape than most of the guys in this room, so I’m not going to put the age thing on you, but what keeps you fresh? What keeps you engaged and not being like, I’m just ready to be done with this?

So Keith’s a good friend. I’ve known him for years. He was in Michigan for a long time. And he’s a hell of a coach. And I texted him. I did not know — I texted him the moment they won — I was watching. The moment they won, because he had text me when we won ours. I texted him that moment, attaboy, and then I was surprised by that. But for me, there’s nothing else I want to do. I want to do this another 10, 12 years. I play a lot of golf, and I don’t think if I could play every day I would like it as much as I do when I have to sneak out to get it and I know I probably shouldn’t be out there.

But there’s — being around those kids and watching them grow and develop is what my job is supposed to be, and it’s what it’s always been at in Oakland. I just, in the lobby on my way over here, a young man who’s all gray walked up to me to shake my hand and I looked at him and he played on my first team 40 years ago. Those are the things that motivate me. And as long as Oakland wants me, I’m going to do this. And I hope to get another 10 or 12 years because I love it and there’s nothing else in my life that I would want to do but this.

Q. As we’ve talked about before, fourth time in the NCAA Tournament, and I’ve asked you this in the past, but we’re here again, so I’ll ask you it again. You took this program from Division II into Division I. Now you’ve been in the NCAA Tournament four times. You’ve played Carolina, you’ve played Pitt, Texas, now Kentucky. Would you believe that your first day on campus at Oakland University? If someone came there and told you this is what’s going to happen,would you have believed that?

No. Absolutely not, and would I believe I’d still be here in 40 years? No. You know, I’m just lucky. I’m lucky. I really am lucky. I’ve just — everything has fallen in the right — that doesn’t mean we haven’t had bad times and hard times and things like that. We have. I mean I’ve had five NBA players in the last 15 years and three of those NBA players didn’t get to the NCAA Tournament. You coach an NBA player at the mid-major level and you don’t get to the NCAA Tournament, you gotta question yourself in that.

We went four straight years in our conference tournament where we lost a single possession game that kept us out. And those teams were good. We were number one seed and lost and then we went to Clemson and won in an NIT game and that team was good enough to win NCAA Tournament games, but we didn’t get the chance. And that’s what I’m stressing to my guys this week. You’ve earned it and you’ve got the chance to change your lives, to do something special.

So yeah, I get where you’re coming from with the question, but it’s really, I’m just fortunate. That’s it. I’m fortunate to be here today. I’m fortunate to have these great kids around me, and I’ve been very lucky.

Q. Greg, you mentioned you don’t want to see the tournament change, expand, whatnot. I’m sure there are a lot of people that like hearing you say that, but why when that theoretically could make it easier for you to get to this tournament?

Oh, it’s not. It’s not. The only reason I would be for expansion to the 96 or whatever they’re talking is to keep us in it. 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 the little guy. And today is the anniversary 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.” That’s what college basketball is. 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 (Lampman) — they could be Jimmy Chitwood tomorrow not. Don’t take that away from us.

Q. Coach, congratulations on being here in Pittsburgh. If you beat Kentucky tomorrow night, is that going to be your biggest win ever in your career?

I think it will be the biggest win in Oakland’s history. I don’t like talking about something that might happen. I’d rather talk about the things that have happened. I think because of the stage and because of what I answered your question earlier, I think it would have to be. But me, personally, my dad played football at Michigan. My brother played football at Michigan. The first word I ever said in my life was Michigan, which the famous broadcaster from Michigan used to call them.

My dad taught me that for some reason. I grew up in Michigan’s football stadium. So for me, personally, when we beat Michigan, that was the greatest — I don’t know if that would ever get matched, because of what that meant to me in my life growing up and what the University of Michigan was to our family and that. So for me, personally, that probably will be the most — the proudest moment of my life because I got to call my parents and brag a little bit. But for the university and for these players, yeah, if we could do it, yes.

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