Gohlke on UK upset: Oakland ‘not a Cinderella’

• Brooke Pryor, ESPN Staff WriterMar 21, 2024, 10:02 PM ET Close Previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and Oklahoma University for the Oklahoman.PITTSBURGH– Do not fit

Jack Gohlke and the Oakland Golden Grizzlies for a glass slipper.They don’t want it.After warding off third-seeded Kentucky 80-76, thanks in big part to

his 10 3-pointers, Gohlke rejected the cliche title bestowed on lower seeds who disturb the tournament’s top-tier teams.”Certainly, we can be found in, we’re the underdog by all measures, but as

a player you can’t think that way,” Gohlke stated.” You got to head out there and think you have the very same talent level as them. I understand they have draft choices, and I understand I’m not going to the NBA, however I understand on any provided night I can take on those guys– and our team can. “That’s why I say we’re not a Cinderella, since when we play our A-game, we can be the very best team on the floor.”Editor’s Picks 1 Associated On Thursday night they were, leading Kentucky for almost 28 minutes. And Gohlke, who invested the first 5 seasons of his career

, including a redshirt year, at Department II Hillsdale College, was arguably the best player on the hardwood, lighting up the scoreboard with a career-high 32 points on a 10-of-20 performance from beyond the arc.Two of his points originated from free throws, fittingly taken after he was fouled on his 19th 3-point effort with 3:33 left in the 2nd half.”He’s a great shooter, “Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves stated.” He kept shooting the ball. He missed out on a couple, however he made a lot

of them, and he made some truly tough shots down the stretch. We was in his face and it was simply among those things where it’s March, and they’re going to strike some tough chance ats completion, and we just got to keep playing.” The night before his very first, and Oakland’s 4th, NCAA competition game ever, Gohlke overtook his parents for a couple of minutes in the

group hotel. His mom, Lisa, tried to get her youngest child to chill out, however even then Gohlke was secured.”We kept saying,’Simply have fun. Take it all in, ‘”Lisa stated, her eyes overflowing with tears after the game.”He said,’I’m not here to

have a good time. We’re here to win. This is a service journey.’ “This time a year back, Gohlke, a local of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, decided to leave Hillsdale and play for coach Greg Kampe in his final year of eligibility. In 4 seasons at Hillsdale, Gohlke averaged 1.8 made 3-pointers per game, shooting 38.2% from beyond the arc.But at Oakland under Kampe, he progressed into a pure shooter, hitting 121 of 327 3-pointers this season. In his whole time at Hillsdale,

he was 184-for-482 on 3s. Oakland’s Jack Gohlke scored 32 points, going 10-of-20 from 3-point territory while not attempting a 2-point shot in the Golden Grizzlies’80-76 upset of Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA competition on Thursday. Joe Sargent/Getty Images”To consider all that has actually taken place in this one year, incredible,”Lisa said.”And for him to, to start with just get the opportunity to bet Kampe, and simply get the thumbs-up to be a shooter. I mean, that’s every shooter’s dream.”He did it. He did it, and they did it together. It’s incredible.” After missing his first two 3-point attempts early, Gohlke got directly to company and hit four triples in four minutes.

Gohlke struck the first 2 on back-to-back possessions, and then after a couple of minutes, made two more on consecutive ownerships. At halftime, he was 7-for-13 from 3. “Once Jack makes 3 [3-pointers] it’s, OK, he’s got it going, “forward Trey Townsend stated. “It could be him. It could be Blake Lampman] And like [coach Greg] Kampe said, today it was Jack. I believe that’s the great thing about this group, is that any offered night any among us can do that. “But it’s definitely a special thing enjoying him just 3 after 3 after 3 and he gets so buzz out there and it simply gives us all momentum and excitement to keep playing hard, so it was great to see.”With each bucket, the raucous crowd throughout from Oakland’s bench exploded, reaching a fever pitch as he struck his 10th 3-pointer to give the Grizzlies a 67-62 lead with 4:35 to go.Among the Oakland faithful was a big contingent of Gohlke’s high school teammates and his household, and each time the guard scored, his sister Jennifer’s fiancé, wearing a black Hillsdale College Tee shirts, raised a giant fathead cutout of Gohlke’s face– given PPG

Paints Arena by his auntie– above the crowd.” You simply have to hold on, and hope that they can hang on, “Lisa said.”They were so confident coming in here, and we take our confidence from Jack, and he just was not going to be shut down.” I’m so proud of him, so pleased with this group, so proud of them simply doing what they set out to do in June of last

year.”Gohlke’s 10 triples were one off from tying the NCAA tournament single-game record set in 1990 by Jeff Fryer, however it’s not the first time he’s gotten that hot. A month earlier, Gohlke also drilled 10 3-pointers in a game, that time against IUPUI in a regular-season game that didn’t bring in one iota of the attention Gohlke and the Golden Grizzlies gained in their prime-time win versus among college basketball’s blue bloods.”Earlier this year he had 10 3s, and this phase is a whole lot various, and the competition is a whole lot various, “stated Jack’s father, Dave Gohlke. “This was simply additional special.”As the buzzer sounded to seal Oakland’s improbable win, the Gohlke household shouted and sobbed from the stands, watching their child and bro step up in the brightest spotlight

. Lisa and Jennifer hold on to each other and sobbed, and then as Gohlke walked by on his method from an onslaught of radio interviews to the team locker room, they stretched out their arms and held up their pinky

, index finger and thumb, signing “I like you “to Gohlke. Jack Gohlke’s sister Jennifer holds a fathead of her more youthful bro, while mother Lisa wipes away tears after Oakland’s win against Kentucky. Brooke Pryor/ESPN However Gohlke isn’t done, and neither are the Grizzlies. They do not require a glass slipper to keep on dancing. “If we were pretenders, we wouldhave actually folded, which’s what Jack implied by that Cinderella thing, “Kampe stated.”We don’t look at ourselves that method. We’re not pretenders. Our company believe that we belong here.”… We belong. I agree with Jack. We do not desire that Cinderella slipper. We wish to be known as when we’re playing on Saturday, whoever we’re playing, we desire the respect that this is a great basketball group. “