ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Oakland men's basketball team will open the 2021-22 regular season at West Virginia on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. inside the WVU Coliseum. Big 12 Now on ESPN+ will televise the game. "Voice of the Golden Grizzlies" Neal Ruhl will provide radio coverage on 97.1 The Ticket HD3, The Bet 1270AM (WXTY-AM), and the Audacy app. 

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INSIDE THE SERIES

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• Overall: West Virginia leads 2-0
• At Home: 0-0
• At WVU: 0-2
• At Neutral: 0-0
• Current Streak: WVU, 2
• Last Meeting: L, 76-71 (at WVU, 12/19/12)
• Series Note: OU has scored 71 points in both matchups at WVU

Under West Virginia's COVID-19 policies, spectators who are not vaccinated will be expected to wear a mask properly above the nose while inside the WVU Coliseum, with the exception of when eating and drinking.

Tuesday will mark the first meeting between Oakland and West Virginia in nearly a decade. WVU escaped with a 76-71 victory over the Golden Grizzlies in the program's last meeting during the 2012-13 season. 

The opener will mark the sixth-career matchup between Oakland's Greg Kampe and WVU head coach Bob Huggins. Combined, the two coaches have totaled 1,544 career wins. The pair faced off three times during Huggins' time at Cincinnati and twice since joining the Mountaineers in 2007.

WVU tied with Oklahoma State for fifth place in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll. A season ago, the Mountaineers went 11-6 in conference play en route to the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament, where they took down No. 14 seed Morehead State before falling to No. 11 seed Syracuse in the Round of 32. West Virginia lost its top-two scorers in Miles McBride and Derek Culver but returned fifth-year all-conference guard Taz Sherman.  

The Golden Grizzlies have won four out of their last six season openers. The four wins came against Goshen, Purdue Fort Wayne, Bowling Green, and Eastern Michigan at home.

Oakland went 1-1 in exhibition play with a close 74-69 loss to Eastern Michigan and a 91-81 victory versus Division II Lake Superior State. Graduate senior Jamal Cain posted double-doubles in both games, averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds. A newcomer in Osei Price averaged 10 points per game on 75-percent shooting.  

OU last won against a Power 5 opponent during the 2016-17 season. The Golden Grizzlies bested Georgia at home, 86-79, with 4,063 attendance. Later in the season, at the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), Oakland took down Clemson on the road by a final score of 74-69. Former Golden Grizzly Martez Walker led the team in scoring in both games.

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PRESEASON POLL
Oakland was projected to finish sixth in the 2021-22 Horizon League Preseason Poll, which was voted by the league's 12 head coaches, media members, and men's basketball media contacts throughout the conference. 

FIRST TEAM HONORS
Jalen Moore earned preseason accolades, as he was named to the all-league first team. Last season, the Cloverdale, Ind., native averaged 17.9 points, 8.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals en route to NABC All-District First Team honors and a spot on the Horizon League First Team. Moore led NCAA Division I in assists per game and total assists (252) while also tallying a team-leading 10 double-doubles, the most in the country by a player below 6-foot.

THE MOORE YOU KNOW
Moore put on a show in his first year sporting a Golden Grizzly uniform. The fourth-year junior led the team in points per game, assists per game, steals per game, free throw makes (170), free throw attempts (219), and minutes per game (37.8). In addition to leading the nation in assists, he ranked second nationally in free throw makes (170), fourth nationally in triple-doubles (1), fifth nationally in minutes per game (37:50), and 23rd nationally in double-doubles. 

KEY RETURNEES
The Golden Grizzlies return 62-percent of their scoring from a year ago, including three starters in Moore, Trey Townsend, and Micah Parrish. OU also brings back sixth man Zion Young, former HL All-Freshman Team recipient Blake Lampman, Chris Conway, and Emmanuel Newsome.

I'M COMING HOME
Jamal Cain transferred to Oakland after four years with the Marquette basketball program. The nearby Pontiac, Mich., native played in 119 career games, including 29 starts with the Golden Eagles. Last season, Cain averaged 9.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 25 starts. He posted a career-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting in Marquette's 64-60 victory at Georgetown (1/2/21) and added double-doubles against Oklahoma State (12/1/20) and Butler (2/17/21). 

BACK FOR ANOTHER RUN
Head coach Greg Kampe enters his 38th season at the helm of the Oakland men's basketball program. He is the third-longest tenured active coach in Division I, only behind Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 45 seasons) and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke, 41 seasons). Kampe's 644 career wins rank 12th among active Division I coaches.

PUTTING OAKLAND ON THE MAP
Kampe joined Oakland in 1984 after six seasons as an assistant coach at Toledo (1978-1984). Formerly known as the Pioneers, OU had only six winning seasons in 16 years of competition before his arrival.

EARLY TESTS
Oakland's non-conference schedule features four NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago and a multi-team exempt event (MTE). 

LCA AWAITS
The Golden Grizzlies and Michigan State Spartans will meet on Dec. 21 at Little Caesars Arena. The two programs faced off at Little Caesars Arena in 2017 and 2019. Over 18,000 spectators have been in attendance for both games. In 2017, the matchup drew the largest crowd in the history of Little Caesars Arena at the time, with 20,695 in attendance. 

HL SLATE
Each HL team will play a 22-game double round-robin schedule. Oakland's conference schedule gets underway on Dec. 2 at UIC. The Golden Grizzlies conclude their conference slate with a five-game home stand.

NEW HOME FOR OAKLAND BASKETBALL
Oakland recently announced a partnership with Audacy that made 97.1 The Ticket HD3 and The Bet 1270AM (WXTY-AM) the official radio providers for the department. With this new partnership, 97.1 The Ticket HD3 and The Bet 1270AM (WXTY-AM) will provide coverage for all Oakland men's basketball games as well as the Greg Kampe Radio Show.

OVERTIME MADNESS
Last year, the Golden Grizzlies reached overtime six times, the most in a single season in program history. OU recorded a 2-4 record in overtime games, including two losses in double overtime. Parrish hit a game-winning bucket to seal a 77-75 win over Detroit Mercy In Oakland's first overtime triumph of the season. OU collected its second overtime victory in the 2021 Horizon League Quarterfinals against Youngstown State.

ALL-LEAGUE NODS
Parrish and Townsend earned Horizon League honors last season. Moore was selected to the All-League team, while Parrish and Townsend earned a spot on the All-Freshman team. All-League voting was done by the 12 head coaches in the conference.

8-FOR-8
OU has garnered an All-Horizon League First Team selection eight seasons in a row (2014-2021). The streak is the longest among current HL programs and tied for the second-longest in conference history behind Xavier (1986-95). An OU player has earned First Team honors 15-straight seasons dating back to its time in the Summit League. 

RACKING THE ACCOLADES 
A pair of second-year players in Townsend and Parrish won Horizon League Freshman of the Week twice during the 2020-21 season. Only three players in the conference managed to win the award two or more times. NKU's Marques Warrick led the League by earning the award on eight occasions en route to winning conference Freshman of the Year. 

EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
Lampman was one of six players named to the Horizon League's 2020-21 All-Academic Team voted on by the League's faculty athletics representatives. It marked the second-straight season Lampman received an HL accolade, as he was named to the All-Freshman Team in 2020. Lampman, a Pre-Business Administration major, has been named to the Dean's List twice in his two-year career with the men's basketball program. Last spring, he earned a team-best 3.81 GPA.

GET YOUR TICKETS
Season tickets can be purchased through the Athletics Ticket Office by calling (248) 370-4000 or emailing outickets@oakland.edu. Single-game tickets and mini-plans are also available for the 2021-22 basketball season. Click here for more information.