Article on Oakland's Canadian Trip

This from the Oakland University Athletics Website

http://www.ougrizzlies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/080811aaa.html

Oakland Standout Reggie Hamilton 

Aug. 8, 2011

ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland University men's basketball team will begin its foreign tour this Saturday-Monday, Aug. 13-15, in Canada. The Golden Grizzlies will face the University of Windsor and Western Ontario.

"We're excited for the opportunity to have 10 days of practice and play some games that do not mean much, other than evaluating players," said OU head coach Greg Kampe. "That is very important with the youth of our team this year in having five freshmen. Playing games with no pressure of winning and the ability to experiment with things is very appealing and important to the coaching staff."

OU and Windsor will kick-off the foreign tour at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Golden Grizzlies and Lancers will tangle again on Sunday at 4 p.m. The final game of the tour will take place on Monday night against Western Ontario in London at 7 p.m.

Oakland won its second straight Summit League regular season and tournament championships in 2010-11. The Grizzlies fell to No. 4 seed Texas, 85-81, in the NCAA tournament in Tulsa, Okla. at the BOK Center. Oakland finished No. 8 inside the final CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll and a final RPI of 57.

Kampe, a five-time Summit League Coach of the Year, enters his 28th season at the helm. He was a finalist for the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year and Jim Phelan Mid-Major Coach of the Year Awards. He ranks fifth in Division I with 27 seasons at the same school and tied for 24th amongst active D-I coaches with 470 victories (Jim Larranaga, George Mason).

Travis Bader, Reggie Hamilton and Drew Valentine all return to the starting lineup for the Golden Grizzlies. Bader, a shooting guard from Okemos, Mich., was named Mid-Major Freshman All-American by CollegeInsider.com and led The Summit League with 94 3-pointers made, fourth-best in school history. He finished with 10.5 points per game and ranked ninth in the NCAA with a .440 three-point field goal percentage. 

Hamilton, a redshirt senior from Chicago, garnered All-Summit League first team honors last season after averaging 17.6 points per game. He finished second in the league with 187 assists and third in 3-pointers made per game with 2.3. Hamilton scored 20 or more points in all three Summit League tournament games and was named to The Summit League All-Tournament Team.

A native of Lansing, Mich., Valentine posted a career-best four double-doubles during his sophomore season and reached double figures in 15 games. He shot 58 percent from the floor in his final 19 games and finished seventh in the league with a .554 field goal percentage. Valentine also became one of the defensive stoppers for the Grizzlies and led The Summit League with close to two steals per contest in league play.

Blake Cushingberry also returns for the Golden Grizzlies after sitting out last season due to an ACL injury. The redshirt junior from Romeo, Mich. made 19 starts in his career and is a very talented defensive player. Michigan transfer Laval Lucas-Perry joins the team after missing last season due to NCAA transfer rule. A redshirt senior from Flint, Mich., Lucas-Perry is a sharp shooter that made 22 starts in U-M's 32 games in 2009-10.

Due to the foreign tour, the Golden Grizzlies have been able to practice during the month of August. After the trip, they will begin individual work outs in September and team practice will resume in mid-October.