Mark Snyder

Detroit Free Press

Oakland basketball coach Greg Kampe will enter a rare club Friday (7 p.m., ESPN2), when the Golden Grizzlies host Valparaiso.

He will coach the 1,000th game of his career, matching a feat achieved by only 12 other active Division I coaches, including Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Michigan's John Beilein.

Kampe and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (1,304) are the only ones to get there at one school.

It's a testament to his resilience. Take it from someone who knows: Oakland assistant Dan Hipsher, a 40-year college coach who led Akron for nine years.

“It shows consistency and longevity and commitment,” Hipsher said today. “All the things it takes in a long coaching career. You get in it 33 years now, and it shows the capability he has and the consistency and loyalty to this institution. And the amount of success he’s had to allow him to remain here that long.”

That Kampe is still thriving -- he’s proud that his program has the best conference record in the state over the past 11 years -- speaks to many of those traits. His teams won six conference titles in OU’s first 14 years, and he has taken the Golden Grizzlies to the NCAA tournament three times.

He's one of the rare coaches who took a program from Division II to Division I and survived the transition.

Hipsher and Kampe played basketball together at Bowling Green in the mid-1970s and stayed in touch.

“I remember him getting the job (in 1984),” Hipsher said. “I was excited for him because we all wanted to be a head coach. When he first said ‘Oakland,’ I thought, like everybody, he was moving to California. But the thing about it is, he’s put his trademark on this program and built this place to where it is today.”

Kampe hesitated to talk about the mark as an achievement. His pride comes from what the 1,000 games have taught him.

“I use our history in talking to our team all the time,” Kampe said. “Most of the things that are happening have happened before. If I can give them a point of reference, it helps.”

Just a few weeks ago, when Oakland lost four out of five games, including to two lesser Horizon League opponents, Kampe reached back to 1996. That season’s Division II team lost to two of the worst teams in the GLIAC but rallied to finish first and eventually reach the national Sweet 16.

“I talked to them: ‘I’ve been through this. This isn’t unique to you, it’s happened to another team at Oakland,'" Kampe said. "It happens all the time. It’s how you respond to it that matters.”

For 33 years, Kampe has responded. And game No. 1,000 might be one of the most important. A win would pull OU within a game of first-place Valpo with three games left and would strengthen the Golden Grizzlies' hold on the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

Ask the 61-year-old Kampe how he feels and, after a lifetime in the game, he’s ready for another.

“I think I’m going to go 1,000 more,” Kampe said, before doing the math under his breath. “I would be 94. ... Maybe not.

“But 500 more.”

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Most games by active Division I coaches (through Feb. 15)

1. 1,384 by Mike Krzyzewski, Army (1976-80), Duke (1981-present)

2. 1,354 by Jim Boeheim, Syracuse (1977-present)

3. 1,276 by Cliff Ellis, South Alabama (1976-84), Clemson (1985-94), Auburn (1995-2004), Coastal Carolina (2008-present)

4. 1,272 by Jerry Slocum, Nyack (1976-87), Geneva (1988-96), Gannon (1997-2005), Youngstown State (2006-present)

5. 1,137 by Bob Huggins, Walsh (1981-83), Akron (1985-89), Cincinnati (1990-2005), Kansas State (2007-08), West Virginia (2008-present)

6. 1,131 by Rick Byrd, Maryville (Tenn.) (1979-80), Lincoln Memorial (1984-86), Belmont (1987-present)

7. 1,117 by Larry Hunter, Wittenberg (1977-89), Ohio (1990-2001), Western Carolina (2006-present)

8. 1,087 by John Beilein, Nazareth (1983), LeMoyne (1984-92), Canisius (1993-97), Richmond (1998-2002), West Virginia (2003-07), Michigan (2008-present)

9. 1,031 by Rick Pitino, Hawaii (1976), Boston University (1979-83), Providence (1986- 87), Kentucky (1990-97), Louisville (2002-present)

10. 1,019 by Roy Williams, Kansas (1989-2003), North Carolina (2004-present)

11. 1,002 by Jim Larranaga, American International (1978-79), Bowling Green (1987-97), George Mason (1998-2011), Miami (Fla.) (2012-present)

12. 999 by Greg Kampe, Oakland (1984-present)

Contact Mark Snyder: msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark__snyder.