The winningest program in NCAA men’s basketball history couldn’t stop a 6-foot-3 three-point shooter who began his college career at the conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan before transferring just up the road to Oakland University — the team that pulled off the biggest upset so far in the 2024 March Madness tournament.
On Thursday evening, Jack Gohlke put on one of the most memorable performances in NCAA tournament history when he came off the bench to score 32 points, helping the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, a commuter college in Rochester Hills, Michigan, beat the eight-time national champion Kentucky Wildcats in the first round. Gohlke shot 50% from behind the arc, hitting 10 three-pointers and two free throws to cap off the remarkable performance in Oakland’s 80-76 win over the Wildcats.
The 24-year-old guard from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, committed to Hillsdale College in 2017. Gohlke played on the men’s basketball team for the liberal arts college in rural southern Michigan, which is a Division II school, where his lethal three-point shooting helped Hillsdale go on a run to the Elite Eight in the 2022 D2 NCAA Tournament.
After transferring to Oakland to play his sixth year of college basketball, Gohlke didn’t stop what he did best at Hillsdale: shooting threes. In fact, that’s just about all he did during the Grizzlies’ 2023-2024 season. Of the 355 total shots Gohlke took throughout the season, 347 of them were three-pointers, which was the second-most for any player in Division I basketball. And he hit on 38% of his three-point shots, averaging nearly 13 points per game.
But even if Kentucky’s scouting report showed them to expect a lot of shots from Gohlke, nothing could’ve prepared the Wildcats for what the Oakland guard would do. Gohlke was unstoppable in the first half of Thursday’s game, nailing seven threes — most of which were heavily contested by Kentucky defenders.
WATCH:
JACK GOHLKE LIT UP KENTUCKY IN THE FIRST HALF 🔥
7 THREES OFF THE BENCH 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wtIKKqhShu
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 22, 2024
While the Golden Grizzlies took a three-point lead into halftime, head coach Greg Kampe, who has been the team’s leader since 1984, knew that to pull off an upset of Kentucky, Gohlke would need to provide some more March magic.
“Well, he better hit seven more [three-pointers] if we’re going to win because we’re ain’t gonna win if he don’t do that,” Kampe said at the half.
Gohlke didn’t hit seven more threes in the second half, but he added three huge buckets from behind the arc, which tied him for second-most three-point shots made in a single NCAA Tournament game. Gohlke’s teammates added some big shots and stellar defense down the stretch, and 14-seed Oakland finished what it started, winning a nail-biter against the three-seeded Kentucky.
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JACK GOHLKE IS UNCONSCIOUS
LEGENDS ARE MADE IN MARCH @MarkTitusShow
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 22, 2024
After the game, Gohlke told CBS, “We’re not a Cinderella,” adding that Oakland is “going to keep winning some games.” Later, Gohlke admitted that he’s not an NBA-caliber player like much of the Kentucky team he just helped take down, but said he and his teammates know they “can compete with those type of guys.”
“You have to think you have the same talent level as them. I know they have draft picks and I know I’m not going to the NBA, but I know on any given night, I can compete with those type of guys and our team can compete with those type of guys.”
"You have to think you have the same talent level as them. I know they have draft picks and I know I'm not going to the NBA, but I know on any given night, I can compete with those type of guys and our team can compete with those type of guys."
—@OaklandMBB's Jack Gohlke pic.twitter.com/PQqfhCl4O8
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2024
Oakland’s win pushed them to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Golden Grizzlies will take on 11-seed North Carolina State, who defeated 6-seed Texas Tech, on Saturday at approximately 7:10 p.m. ET.