ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team is back on the court for their second exhibition of the preseason to face Tennessee State for a neutral site game at the Wayne State Fieldhouse. The game is presented by Wayne State and the Horatio Williams Foundation for their Hoops and Culture Event and is the third exhibition contest of the day, followed by Wayne State vs. Tuskegee and Detroit Mercy vs. Alabama A&M. Action starts at 7 p.m. ET Saturday and will be available to stream on YouTube, provided by PreP Sports.
Oakland opened the 2026-27 season with a 103-74 exhibition win over Grand Valley State at the OU Credit Union O'rena last week. The Golden Grizzlies connected on 20 three-pointers, including a pair of 11-0 runs that helped turn a six-point second-half game into a comfortable victory. Senior RJ Taylor led Oakland with 25 points and six threes, while senior Chris Fields Jr. added 13 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Sophomore Ryder Bradley scored 15 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting, and sophomore Hamoudy Mashhour added 12 points in his return to action. Oakland also finished with 22 assists, 42 rebounds and 46 bench points in the preseason debut.
Oakland brought in a plethora of talent through both the transfer portal and freshman, as the 10 new faces consist of three freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors, and three seniors.
Notable additions for the Golden Grizzlies include seniors Belal El Shakery from New Hampshire (averaged 11.4 points/game, 8.2 rebounds/game, leading program and America East Conference, America East All-Conference Third Team), Chris Fields Jr. from Campbell (averaged 9.7 points/game, 6.9 rebounds/game, ranked ninth in the CAA in rebounds, recorded first triple-double in program history), RJ Taylor from Northern Iowa (shot 46.2% from the floor, 37.5% from three, totaled 78 points last season), and sophomore Brady Swartz from Western Michigan (averaged 7.7 points/game, 4.6 rebounds/game, shot 40.8% from the floor).
Three players from the 2025-26 roster who did not see the court also return for the Black and Gold. Sophomore Hamoudy Mashhour "redshirted" last season, while sophomore Camden Thompson and senior William Kassi were mid-year transfers.
Coach Kampe, the longest-tenured head coach at one school in Division I, will lead the Golden Grizzlies for his 43rd season. Kampe, who currently sits at 731 wins, ranks in the top-10 for most wins by active Division I head coaches.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Tennessee State enters the 2026-27 season as the OVC preseason favorite after receiving 13 of 18 first-place votes. The Tigers are coming off a 23-10 season in which they shared the OVC regular-season title, won the conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee State will look to replace a trio of key contributors in OVC Player of the Year Aaron Nkrumah, All-OVC First Team selection Travis Harper II and All-OVC Second Team selection Dante Harris, who combined for 46.5 points per game last season.
The Tigers have reloaded with a veteran group that features several high-level transfers, including 7-1 center Aaron Bradshaw, Ty-Laur Johnson and Joshua Rivera, along with returning junior Kavien Jones and sophomore Damon Howard Jr. Tennessee State averaged 80.3 points per game last season while holding opponents to 74.4 points and forcing 14.5 turnovers per contest under the reigning OVC Co-Coach of the Year.
Saturday will be the first meeting between the Golden Grizzlies and Tigers in exhibition or regular-season program history.
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.
