Skip To Main Content
UNLEASH THE GRIZZ

Oakland University Athletics

Scoreboard

Watts at MBB Practice on 10/14
CeeJay Round

Men's Basketball David Gibson

Exhibition Action Set for Oakland Men's Basketball Against GVSU

ROCHESTER, Mich. – On Thursday, Oakland University Men's Basketball hosts the first of two exhibition games the team will play with Grand Valley State University on October 20 at 7:00 p.m. inside the Athletics Center O'rena.

Oakland returns All-League Second Team member Jalen Moore from a successful 2021-22 campaign in which the senior averaged 15.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game alongside Trey Townsend who was third on the squad in scoring with 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, respectively.

Osei Price and Blake Lampman will also be featured with court time this year, combining 11.3 points per contest and a split shooting percentage of 45% (45-100) and 35.6% (74-208) between the two, respectively. 

With the addition of Rocket Watts, Lorne Bowman, and Keaton Hervey from the NCAA Division I ranks, the Golden Grizzlies add scoring threats to the lineup. Watts is a former All-Big Ten Freshman Team with Michigan State before playing in 19 games for Mississippi State last season, shooting 40% (33-82) from the field. Watts is also a former No. 33 ESPN Top 100 recruit.

Bowman comes from the University of Wisconsin after a single season with the Badgers, appearing in 22 games and a 34.4% (21-61) field goal percentage with a career-high nine points against St. Francis Brooklyn. Bowman was the No. 94 recruit in ESPN's Top 100. Hervey is the team's latest graduate student from Missouri State after playing 16.3 minutes per game with the Bears, averaging 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.

OU had the third-best offense in the Horizon League after 2021-22's conclusion with an average of 74.4 points per game. The Golden Grizzlies capitalized off 75-plus points per game last season with a 13-4 mark when scoring 75 or more (7-7 when scoring less). 

The Golden Grizzlies stare down a gauntlet of a non-conference season starting with NCAA Division III Defiance College in the season opener on November 7 before hosting Bowling Green, Oklahoma State, and Eastern Michigan with a trip to Toledo wedge in between. Oakland will also be a part of the 2022 Nassau Championship in the Bahamas before making cross-country treks to Syracuse and Boise State as the team will once again finish the non-conference slate at Michigan State.

Oakland returns 1345 of the 2381 points scored last season (56.4% of the offense in 2020-21) with three returning starters from last season in Moore, Conway, and Townsend. Moore finished second in all of NCAA Division I in assists per game at 231 total, 7.7 per game after the nation's best performance in 2020-21 while the Cloverdale native and Townsend combined for fourth and 22nd in minutes per game at 38.1 and 36.2, respectively. 

The team's defense also looks to capitalize off the 14th-best steals per game team last season with 9.0/game. 

On Wednesday, the Horizon League announced the annual preseason rankings and All-League teams as the Golden Grizzlies were picked fourth out of 11 with 321 votes and two first-place tallies. Moore was selected to the Preseason All-League First Team as the only Golden Grizzly recognized, his second-straight year as a preseason all-league honoree.

Head Coach Greg Kampe enters his 39th season at the helm for Oakland University as the second-longest tenured coach in NCAA Division I basketball behind Jim Boeheim from Syracuse, who is in his 42nd season. Kampe has posted a 664-506 (56.8%) career record. 

The preseason KenPom rankings revealed Oakland as the fifth-best in the Horizon League at 225th overall out of the competing 363 teams.

SCOUTING REPORT

GRAND VALLEY STATE
This is the first of three exhibitions for the Lakers who are under the direction of first-year head coach Cornell Mann from the University of Missouri staff. GVSU will make the trip to Eastern Michigan and Michigan State before turning to NCAA Division II regular season play. 

Oakland and Grand Valley State were conference opponents in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), meeting 28 times since 1985 with the Lakers leading the all-time series 37-24 with the last contest coming in 2016, a 98-68 win for Oakland.

GVSU has eight freshmen or redshirt-freshman on the roster combined with two graduate students to a team that amassed a 17-11 overall record in 2021-22 tacked on by an 11-9 GLIAC mark for fifth-best in the conference. 

The Lakers' returning leading scorer is Luke Tolliver who only saw 14 games of action last season with 5.1 points per game as Marius Grazulis looks to capitalize off 3.4 rebounds per game season as the team's returning leader in 28 games.


 

NEW FACES
The Golden Grizzlies welcome in four transfers, two from the power five-level, Rocket Watts (Mississippi State), Lorne Bowman (Wisconsin), Keaton Hervey (Missouri State), and Chuol Deng (Hill College). Three freshmen then join the new class with Cooper Craggs, Dominic Capriotti, and Evan Solomon.

NEW HEAT IN MIAMI
Oakland's own Jamal Cain has earned a contract with the Miami Heat for the upcoming season wearing No. 8. Cain is just the latest active Golden Grizzly in the NBA with Kendrick Nunn, a regular part of the Los Angeles Lakers rotation.

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 2022-23 basketball season. 

NEW HOME FOR OAKLAND BASKETBALL
Oakland recently announced a partnership with Audacy that made 97.1 The Ticket HD3 and The Bet 1270AM (WXYT-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.

BACK FOR ANOTHER RUN
Kampe enters his 38th season at the helm of the Oakland men's basketball program. He is the second-longest tenured active coach in Division I, only behind Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 45 seasons). Kampe's 664 career wins rank 12th among active Division I coaches. Two wins away from tying John Wooden's all-time record with Indiana State and UCLA from 1946-1975


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.
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jamal Cain

#1 Jamal Cain

F
6' 7"
Graduate Student
Blake Lampman

#11 Blake Lampman

G
6' 3"
Junior
Jalen Moore

#34 Jalen Moore

G
5' 11"
Senior
Osei Price

#13 Osei Price

G
6' 4"
Sophomore
Trey Townsend

#4 Trey Townsend

F
6' 6"
Sophomore
Evan Solomon

Evan Solomon

G
6' 2"
Redshirt
Dominic Capriotti

#55 Dominic Capriotti

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Cooper Craggs

#25 Cooper Craggs

F
6' 5"
Freshman
Chuol Deng

#44 Chuol Deng

F
6' 5"
Sophomore
Keaton Hervey

#1 Keaton Hervey

F
6' 4"
Graduate Student
Lorne Bowman II

#0 Lorne Bowman II

G
6' 1"
Sophomore
Rocket Watts

#3 Rocket Watts

G
6' 2"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jamal Cain

#1 Jamal Cain

6' 7"
Graduate Student
F
Blake Lampman

#11 Blake Lampman

6' 3"
Junior
G
Jalen Moore

#34 Jalen Moore

5' 11"
Senior
G
Osei Price

#13 Osei Price

6' 4"
Sophomore
G
Trey Townsend

#4 Trey Townsend

6' 6"
Sophomore
F
Evan Solomon

Evan Solomon

6' 2"
Redshirt
G
Dominic Capriotti

#55 Dominic Capriotti

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Cooper Craggs

#25 Cooper Craggs

6' 5"
Freshman
F
Chuol Deng

#44 Chuol Deng

6' 5"
Sophomore
F
Keaton Hervey

#1 Keaton Hervey

6' 4"
Graduate Student
F
Lorne Bowman II

#0 Lorne Bowman II

6' 1"
Sophomore
G
Rocket Watts

#3 Rocket Watts

6' 2"
Junior
G