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And while we’re only a few days into this year’s edition of the men’s March Madness, the tournament already seems to have 2024’s unannounced sensation: Jack Gohlke.
The 24-year-old Gohlke produced a remarkable shooting display to catalyze No. 14-seeded Oakland University to a famous 80-76 victory over No. 3 seed Kentucky on Thursday.
Gohlke’s 32 points, which primarily came from deep, connecting on 10 three pointers, tied for the second most in an NCAA tournament game, helped spark Oakland’s memorable first-round victory. That victory ensured the southeastern Michigan school advanced to the second round for the first time in its history.
The magnitude of the victory cannot be understated: Oakland has little pedigree compared to Kentucky, a college basketball juggernaut with a long track history of producing NBA talent and the second-most national championships in history (eight).
But like Gohlke’s confident shooting display on Thursday night, the guard is bullish about his team’s ability to stand up to the biggest programs in college basketball.
I know [the Kentucky Wildcats] 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 guys and our team can compete with those type of guys,” Gohlke told reporters after Oakland’s win over the Wildcats.
And the guard has chosen his area of basketball to focus on and mastered the art of shooting from deep.
Over the course of the season, he appeared in 31 regular season games and three games in the Horizon League Tournament for the Golden Grizzlies. Before taking on Kentucky, he attempted 335 field goals, 327 of which were from behind the three-point line.
Gohlke shot 37% from beyond the arc and continued that form in Oakland’s March Madness opener.