Grizzly warning: Oakland rep has Fighting Illini on guard

If the measure of a college basketball coach is his number of wins, then Oakland’s Greg Kampe isn’t faring too badly. He earned his 700th win – all at Oakland – when the Golden Grizzlies defeated Defiance Nov. 4.If the measure of a coach is the number of people he’s helped, then Kampe might be judged even more highly. Over the years, he has been one of the biggest fundraisers for Coaches vs. Cancer – and he even came to Central Illinois in April to join Illinois coach Brad Underwood for his annual event that drew 1,700 people and raised $501,649.”One of the great coaches in college basketball,” Underwood said. “One of the really good people in our profession and one of the good guys.”On Wednesday, Kampe brings his Golden Grizzlies (1-1) to Champaign to face Underwood’s Fighting Illini (2-0) for a non-conference game designed to stress Illinois’ nearly all-new roster.As Kentucky discovered in last year’s NCAA Tournament, Oakland uses its zone defense and patient offense to limit possessions – and then knocks opponents out with its 3-point shooting.”We’ll see a little different look than we did in our first two (games), which will be good for us,” Underwood said. “They gave us everything that we wanted last year.”Indeed, Oakland showed up in Champaign last Nov. 10 and owned the lead with 10 minutes to play before falling to the Elite Eight-bound Illini by a 64-53 count.

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