To say that the opening weekend of March Madness was thrilling would be an understatement. The first round saw numerous upsets – namely No. 13 Yale taking down No. 4 Auburn, No. 11 Duquesne edging No. 6 BYU, No. 12 Grand Canyon upending No. 5 Saint Mary’s and No. 12 James Madison handling No. 5 Wisconsin – but no upset was more impactful than No. 14 seed Oakland shocking No. 3 Kentucky March 23. Although the Golden Grizzlies of Rochester Hills, Mich. ultimately fell to fellow potential
Cinderella North Carolina State Saturday, Oakland had already established itself as the darling of this year’s men’s tournament.
There were many reasons why America became enamored with Oakland, starting with the fact that a school many hadn’t heard of took down a historic “Blue Blood” like Kentucky. A large portion of the March Madness audience was introduced to Oakland’s coach Greg Kampe, a charismatic leader who has held his post in suburban Detroit for the past 40 seasons. Junior Trey Townsend had a pair of stellar games for the Golden Grizzlies in the tournament, but perhaps the biggest draw of Oakland was Jack Gohlke.
He only spent one season at Oakland, but I have a feeling that Gohlke will be a fixture in the local community for quite some time. He graduated after spending five seasons at Hillsdale College – a Division II school – and wasn’t even a starter for the Golden Grizzlies. But he didn’t have to start. All he had to do was shoot.
It’s hard not to love a player that consistently shoots (and makes) from downtown, and Gohlke is no exception. He splashed 10 triples on just three dribbles to help Oakland take down Kentucky, cementing himself among one of the all-time tournament favorites after just one victory. He may not be Kevin Pittsnogle of West Virginia fame, but Golhke will undoubtedly be a player sports fans reminisce about once the calendar flips to March in the coming years. Oh, and another stat that shows what makes Gohlke adored by many? In the 2023-24 season, he attempted 372 shots. Only eight of those were from within the arc, meaning that he attempted 364 three-pointers. He sure found his niche.
Soon after Oakland took down Kentucky, Golhke posted multiple advertisements on X (the artist formerly known as Twitter), including brands such as TurboTax and Buffalo Wild Wings, as well as his own merchandise. This right here is exactly what NIL was supposed to be when it was finally introduced to college sports. It started off strong when the likes of Bo Nix posted sponsorships with Milo’s Sweet Tea, but, as we have all seen with the troubles regarding recruiting and the transfer portal, the idea became far less innocent.
It was initially a method for athletes to use their name and notoriety to pull in some much-earned dough, not pit schools against each other to create a bidding war. Nick Saban, the recently retired Alabama coach and perhaps the greatest ever, recalled numerous players asking him for more NIL money in the immediate aftermath of Alabama’s semifinal loss to Michigan Jan. 1. If no more funds came? Well they’d leave, of course. That ain’t right.
I’m not sure how much legislation or reworking by the NCAA needs to be conducted in order to fix this Pandora’s Box, but it’s nice to see the formerly unrecognized Gohlke be able to profit off of a successful run in March Madness. It’s the prime example of the good part of college athletes getting paid. Players deserve to get paid every dollar that sponsors and universities are willing to pay, but not at the expense of the sports we love, which has seemingly become the case. Gohlke should be an example, not an exception.
