Golden Grizzlies ready for 2021 season
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Something special is cooking on the campus of Oakland University. The upcoming year is chock full of possibilities as the OU men’s basketball team prepares to begin regular season play.
Several core members from the Golden Grizzlies’ prior squad are set to return. The first one being point guard Jalen Moore, who led the nation with 8.4 assists a game last year. The former junior college All-American from Indiana is Oakland’s clear-cut floor leader.
Another big factor for OU is the second year forward Micah Parrish from Detroit. He’s a sharpshooter who showcased his versatility as a freshman, Parrish picked up at least two steals in 15 games.
Also, fellow sophomore standout Trey Townsend returns to the lineup. The Oxford, Michigan native showed a real knack for rebounding and defense during his freshman campaign.
Both Parrish and Townsend were selected for the Horizon League All-Freshman team.
A new addition to this year’s Golden Grizzlies club is highly regarded fifth-year transfer Jamal Cain. The grad transfer recorded almost 10 ppg with Marquette University as a starter last year.
Veteran OU Head Coach Greg Kampe gushed over his revamped roster in a recent interview.
“I really like us, I think we have a chance to be a special team. We had a great offseason. We added Jamal Cain who I think is an NBA prospect. And we’ve got Jalen Moore back, Trey Townsend back, Micah Parrish back. So I think, in my opinion, we’ve got four of the best players in the league. So, I think we should be pretty good.”
Cain is a good example of positive gain through the transfer portal. It hasn’t been all roses as OU has felt the thorny side of things. The program lost two major players by transfer this season.
Big man Daniel Oladapo departed for the University of Pittsburgh. He chipped in 12.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in 2020-21. While guard Rashad Williams split for Saint Louis University in the offseason. The long-distance threat poured in 13.6 ppg for Oakland.
Coach Kampe apparently made reference to such setbacks last Friday on Twitter. In response to a video tweet of his interview, he added:
“They have pretty much universally picked us 6th, maybe they forgot as a 3 seed who was in the championship game last year, maybe our brand has taken a hit the last couple years, who knows. If we stay healthy it’s going to be a special year in the O’rena.”
No matter the chatter, Kampe has built OU into a mid-major conference force nearly from scratch. With three NCAA Tournament bids to his name, a couple of rough patches lately won’t stop him.
The regular season kicks off Tuesday, Nov. 9 at West Virginia University.
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