ROCHESTER, Mich. –  Head coach Greg Kampe and the Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team is set to open up its preseason against Alma College Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. ET, on the Blacktop inside the OU Credit Union O'rena.

The Golden Grizzlies are coming off a 16-18 season, including 11-6 in Horizon League action to finish in sixth. Oakland advanced to the semifinals in the League Tournament, before succumbing to eventual champion, Robert Morris, in double overtime. The Golden Grizzlies were voted to finish second in the 2025-26 Horizon League Preseason Poll, receiving seven first-place votes. Milwaukee was selected just ahead of Oakland, a team that the Golden Grizzlies went 1-1 with in the regular season series and defeated in the #HLMBB Tournament quarterfinals last year.

Senior forward Tuburu Naivalurua was named the Preseason Player of the Year and Preseason All-League First Team after a strong junior campaign. Naivalurua returns as the Horizon League's leading scorer at 13.9 points per game. Known for his work on the other side of the ball, the Australia native averaged 7.1 boards per game, totaling 234 rebounds through all 33 games he started. He shot .555 from the field, including 83 made free-throws.

With only three returning players from last year's squad, including a regular starter in Naivalurua, junior guard Nassim Mashhour who saw lots on the court in 31 games, averaging 13.9 minutes last season, and redshirt-freshman Warren Marshall IV, the Golden Grizzlies will look to utilize its transfer players and freshmen this season. 

Oakland brought in a plethora of talent through both the transfer portal and freshman, as the 11 new faces consist of three freshmen, three juniors, three senior and two graduate transfers. Not an unfamiliar face to the OU Credit Union O'rena and the Golden Grizzlies, is grad transfer Brett White II who previously played for nearby Rochester Christian. While with the Warriors, White played in 57 games over two seasons, knocked down a total of 119 threes and averaged 21.0 points per game his senior season.

Joining White as the other grad transfer is Michael Houge who played a season at Jax State where the Detroit native played in all 36 games for the gamecocks. His senior season, he totaled 268 rebounds, averaging  7.4 rebounds/game. He also made 128 field goals for a 47.8% shooting average.

Along with Naivalurua, Oakland rosters a total of three players from outside of the U.S., as Naivalurua and senior forward Nate Deer are from Australia and junior guard William Kassi is from France. Deer joins the team in Rochester after a season at Texas State, where the 6-10 forward averaged 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in 25 games. Along in the senior class is guard Ziare Wells from Lenoir-Rhyne and guard Brody Robinson from UT-Arlington. Wells was the 2024-25 All-SAC Tournament MVP, All-SAC Newcomer of the Year and led LR to the Conference Tournament Title and NCAA Division II Regional Championship with a 16.6 points/game scoring average. Robinson played in all 31 games for the Mavs, averaging 9.5 points/game and was a 40.0% shooter from downtown and 52 made threes.

In the junior class, Kassi came to OU from Indian Hills CC and was an NJCAA All-American in 2024-25 and averaged 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Warriors as he totaled 170 total rebounds on the opposite side of the ball. Forward Isaac Garrett headed east from Snow College in Utah where he averaged 14.0 points/game, 7.0 rebounds/game, and dished out 93 assists his sophomore season. Guard Khoi Thurmon is a transfer from Panola College, but is no stranger to Horizon League Basketball as he played his freshman year at Purdue Fort Wayne. Thurmon was a NJCCA All-American, played in 35 games, and shot 49.3% from the field.

The Golden Grizzlies bring in an impressive freshman class, all of which are from the state of Michigan, as Hamoudy Mashhour, Donny Yeager and MJ Yeager will rep the Black and Gold.

Mashhour, the brother of Nassim, played at Dearborn High School and was an All-KLAA honoree, First-Team All-State, and four-time district champion averaging just under 19 points a game and graduated as Dearborn's winningest player in program history.

Another set of twins on the roster in two years, the Yeagers come to Rochester after high school careers at Nouvel Catholic Central High School and post-high school prep ball at Golden State Prep in California. Donny was a three-time First Team All-Conference and three-time First Team All-State honoree who earned 1,177 career points and 172 career three-pointers for second in school history. MJ was also a multi-year First Team All-Conference and First Team All-State honoree, while being named Nouvel's all-time scoring leader with 1,554 total points (22.4 points/game) and ranked in the top-10 in five MHSAA boys basketball records.

Coach Kampe, the longest-tenured head coach at one school in Division I, will lead the Golden Grizzlies for his 42nd season. Kampe, who currently sits at 715 wins, ranks in the top-10 for most wins by active Division I head coaches.


SCOUTING THE SCOTS 
Alma is under the direction of Mike Fitzpatrick in his fourth season at the helm. He owns an 18-58 record, including a 1-24 record last season and missing the MIAA Tournament. The Scots, however, do return their leading scorer, Donovan Collins back on the court for the 2025-26 season. The junior started all 25 games and averaged 10.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. From the floor, he shot 31.5% and made 67 shots from range.



How to Follow Oakland Men's Basketball: For complete information on Oakland Men's Basketball follow the team on X at @OaklandMBB and head coach Greg Kampe at @KampeOU. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.