True to coaches’ form, Oakland University men’s basketball coach Greg Kampe remains focused on the last game his team lost, not how many it won last season.

The Golden Grizzlies won 26 games last season — a school record. They also went 20-1 against Summit League opponents — a conference record. Yet, the blowout loss to Pittsburgh in the NCAA tournament remains an open wound for Kampe heading into his twenty-seventh season at OU.

“One of the things that people don’t realize about our team and players is that the season ended in a bad way for us last year,” Kampe said. “We had positioned ourselves to do something. We had a chance to win an NCAA tournament game and then kind of folded down the stretch. So when people talk about repeating and motivation, we have a lot of motivation.”

Oakland also has high expectations, as well as a target on its back.

The Grizzlies were picked as a runaway favorite to repeat as conference champions in the Summit League preseason poll, receiving 29 of 34 first-place votes. Several other media outlets also chose Oakland as their Summit League favorite.

But before the Grizzlies can worry about starting their league title run and winning tournament games in March, they must first survive a grueling non-conference schedule and play eight of their first 10 games away from the O’Rena.

Fierce competition

Oakland starts its season Nov. 12 at West Virginia, a Final Four team last season. The Grizzlies also play games at Ohio and at No. 23 Tennessee, both of which were NCAA tournament teams a year ago. Additionally, OU faces five Big Ten teams including No. 2 Michigan State, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 13 Illinois, No. 14 Purdue and Michigan.

The non-conference schedule likely won’t be helpful to OU’s overall record early on, but it will allow Kampe to showcase his best player, 6-foot-11 center Keith Benson, on a national stage.

“There are a number of reasons we play the schedules that we do and this year one of them is Keith Benson,” Kampe said. “He jumped on the scene last year when he did what he did against (NBA first-round draft pick) Cole Aldrich at Kansas. There were like 13 pro scouts in the stands and they all stepped back and said ‘wow.’ We wanted to give him that opportunity again this year against the guys he’s going to be measured against in the (NBA) draft.”

Benson’s first test will be Game 1 against West Virginia big man Kevin Jones (6-8). Jones averaged 13.5 points and a shade over seven rebounds per game last year and is projected to cement his name among the top of the nation’s frontcourt players this season. Benson will also be tested against the Big Ten frontcourt duos from Michigan State — Delvon Roe (6-8) and Derrick Nix (6-8) — and Illinois, Mike Tilsdale (7-1) and Mike Davis (6-9). Benson, who had preliminarily left OU and declared for the NBA Draft before returning because of a thumb injury, is ready for the challenge and refocused on his senior year.

“I don’t have an extra chip on my shoulder personally, but I’ve been working hard to improve my game,” Benson said. “I’ve worked to improve my ball handling and footwork and I’ve put some weight on and gained some strength. I try to lead by example and for me it all starts in the locker room where we come together as a team.”

While Benson will be looking to showcase his skills to NBA scouts, Kampe is using the non-conference program to build the recognition of his program. He hopes the heavy load of Big Ten opponents, a common scheduling practice for OU, will increase the Golden Grizzlies’ presence in the Midwest.

Seven of OU’s non-conference games, all played away from home, will be televised. The game against Michigan State will be played at The Palace of Auburn Hills Dec. 11.

“The best part about playing those games, aside from just the money they generate, is the Big Ten Network,” Kampe said. “We’re going to be on the Big Ten Network like it’s our home station. But we’ve got to win one of these games now. We didn’t do real well against the big boys last season and part of that was our style of play. We played a real methodical game because we just couldn’t go into those games and out-athletic people. To beat those teams, compete with them, you have to trick them a little and show them some things they won’t expect. We’re going to do some things differently this year.”

A faster pace

A big difference between this year’s team and the Golden Grizzlies of years’ past will be the speed of play. Oakland plans on playing full-court defense, having at least one defender on the ball for 94-feet, which Kampe said he doesn’t remember his teams ever doing before. The Grizzlies will also be faster on the offensive end, now having the luxury of using more than one primary ball handler.

“We want to push the ball, probably more than we ever have, and I believe we can do it because of the depth we’ve got this year,” Kampe said. “When you have a guy like (Johnathon Jones) out there (at point guard) dictating exactly what I want, it’s great, but the problem was we could never take him off the floor. If you’ve only got one guy bringing the ball up at that position, you can’t have him guarding for 94 feet and pushing the ball all the time. I think we can do that this year because of the athletes that we have, we’ve got a lot of guys with that have great motors and can player harder for longer periods of time.”

Senior Larry Wright is one player that will take on more of a primary role in the team’s offense this year. Wright, who played his first games with OU last season after transferring from St. John’s, will share point guard duties and also be relied on to pick up the scoring slack created by the departures of Jones and Derick Nelson.

Wright admittedly played timid last season, often passing up shots and spending more time trying to fit in rather than lead. Expect that to change this season.

“This year I’m going to be more aggressive on the floor,” Wright said. “At times last year my head was down when I didn’t play good and with being new and I got passive. I know I’ve got to learn to be more assertive out there and I learned a lot from (Jones) and (Nelson) about being a leader and keeping your head up. Now it’s my responsibility to take what they taught me and teach it to my new teammates.”

One of those new teammates and another key part to the Grizzlies backcourt this season is junior Reggie Hamilton. Hamilton, like Wright, is also a transfer and will see his first game action with OU this season. He came to OU from UMKC, where he played point guard for the Kangaroos.

Hamilton, along with Wright and sophomore Ledrick Eackles, will get the bulk of the playing time in the backcourt and will play at both guard spots. Although he is a point guard by trade, Hamilton’s shooting ability and speed off the dribble give him the versatility to function both as a distributor and scorer.

“The area we need to improve is our communication,” Hamilton said. “It’s a small problem right now, but it can become a big problem later in the season if we don’t work on it.”

That communication will be important for OU on the defense end also, with multiple players being used at different positions. Oakland will also likely employ a three-guard lineup at times this season because junior Blake Cushingberry, a projected starter and a player who Kampe said he hoped would be the team’s defensive stopper, will miss the entire season with a torn ACL. Junior Drew Maynard remains suspended from the team, leaving sophomore Drew Valentine as the only other small forward with experience.

“I’m very worried about that issue defensively,” Kampe said. “Last year we would say ‘we don’t want that guy to score’ and Johnathon (Jones) would go out there and shut him down. Derick (Nelson) could do it too. When we really wanted someone to step up and shut down a player, Derick could do it and did. So who are our lockdown defenders? I couldn’t tell you that right now. If there is a question mark in my mind about this team, that is it.”

Hamilton, however, is determined to show that he and the rest of his teammates are determined to play defense at a high level.

“We just have to talk all the time, and if we do that, I think this will be the best defense Oakland has seen in a long time,” he said.

While the style of play and overall complexion of the team may be different from a year ago, OU’s goals remain consistent with the team preseason expectations — to repeat as Summit League champs.

“Obviously coming back and winning another championship means everything to this program,” said senior Will Hudson, who will start alongside Benson in OU’s frontcourt. “The whole offseason, our focus has been geared toward another championship run.”