Oakland @ Illinois preview

Oakland at Illinois

Last Meeting ( Nov 10, 2023 ) Oakland 53, Illinois 64

If the measure of a college basketball coach is his number of wins, then Oakland's Greg Kampe isn't faring too badly. He earned his 700th win - all at Oakland - when the Golden Grizzlies defeated Defiance Nov. 4.

If the measure of a coach is the number of people he's helped, then Kampe might be judged even more highly. Over the years, he has been one of the biggest fundraisers for Coaches vs. Cancer - and he even came to Central Illinois in April to join Illinois coach Brad Underwood for his annual event that drew 1,700 people and raised $501,649.

"One of the great coaches in college basketball," Underwood said. "One of the really good people in our profession and one of the good guys."

On Wednesday, Kampe brings his Golden Grizzlies (1-1) to Champaign to face Underwood's Fighting Illini (2-0) for a non-conference game designed to stress Illinois' nearly all-new roster.

As Kentucky discovered in last year's NCAA Tournament, Oakland uses its zone defense and patient offense to limit possessions - and then knocks opponents out with its 3-point shooting.

"We'll see a little different look than we did in our first two (games), which will be good for us," Underwood said. "They gave us everything that we wanted last year."

Indeed, Oakland showed up in Champaign last Nov. 10 and owned the lead with 10 minutes to play before falling to the Elite Eight-bound Illini by a 64-53 count.

While Illinois doesn't have any of its starters back from last year - guard Ty Rodgers has elected to redshirt this season - Oakland isn't much different. Senior point guard DQ Cole is the only returning starter currently playing.

With Kentucky killer Jack Gohlke and Blake Lampman having graduated, Cole has risen to become Oakland's top 3-point threat. He launched 15 3-pointers when Oakland played last Wednesday at Boise State. Alas, he made just one as Boise State cruised to an 87-43 win.

The Golden Grizzlies shot 3 of 26 from 3-point range as a team at Boise, which obviously can't repeat Wednesday if Oakland intends to knock off Illinois. But Kampe doesn't apologize for a non-conference schedule that also includes trips to Kansas and Arkansas along with a "neutral" game against Michigan State in Detroit.

"I know a lot of our fans don't like hearing this," Kampe said. "But, again, I say, we could play some really crappy teams. A lot of things would be different, but we wouldn't know how bad we were. We wouldn't know what we have to do to improve and get ready so we can compete for a conference championship. I like our team. We have a chance."

--Field Level Media