While working at Oakland’s men’s basketball summer camp this past July, I listened to coach Greg Kampe address a crowd of young kids around lunch time. He told them, “if you can shoot the ball, you can play anywhere.”
I turned to newcomer Jack Gohlke and laughed with him. It was as if coach Kampe had said this with Gohlke in mind.
Gohlke has certainly lived up to any expectation that coach had of him. He is currently 31st in the nation in 3-pointers made with 55. Earlier in the season against Xavier, commentator Matt Schumacher said on the broadcast, “[Gohlke] is the nation’s best 3-point shooter.” At the time of that game, Gohlke led the nation in 3-pointers made.
So how does a bona fide college marksman get to that level of success? Like all great athletes, it came from hours of practicing as a kid.
Gohlke spent three to four days a week practicing with local coaches or with his AAU team, working on not only shooting, but everything else he would need to become a college player. It was with his AAU coach that he developed his unorthodox jumper. As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (the leg kick for offensive fouls would come later).
At 15 years old, Gohlke’s goal was to get a scholarship to play at the biggest school he could.
“My goal was always to get an athletic scholarship,” Gohlke said. “My parents invested a lot into me as an athlete and I wanted to pay that back to them.”
It was with this attitude of thankfulness that he accepted a scholarship to attend Hillsdale out of high school. The coaches invested a lot of time and care into recruiting Jack, showing their commitment to him at an early stage in his recruitment.
He’d spent five years there, one of which was a redshirt year. By the time Gohlke was a senior, he averaged 14.2 points per game while shooting 40% from three. In his junior year, he hit a go-ahead three to send Hillsdale to the Division 2 Elite Eight.
Gohlke credits the time he had at Hillsdale for developing him into the player he is now but still believes he would’ve been as successful if he started at Oakland.
“Because of the way I worked and the way that the coaches were at Hillsdale and are here, I think I would have had a similar career,” he said.
That same confidence showed through when he came to Oakland. Going from playing in front of a couple thousand people to crowded Big Ten stadiums is no small task. But Gohlke was up for the challenge, taking a total of 24 3-pointers between his first two games at Ohio State and Illinois.
Some shooting nights are better than others, as they always are, but it’s the unwavering confidence that Jack has in himself and his teammates that allows him to keep pushing.
“You just gotta keep your confidence and trust the hard work and time you’ve put into the game,” he said.
It can be difficult to transfer late into your college career and fit into the leadership structure of a team. That hasn’t been the case for Gohlke. Coming in, he knew the importance of connecting with guys like Blake Lampman, Trey Townsend and Chris Conway.
“We all have the same team goal, which is to win, and we’re all willing to sacrifice individual accolades to do so,” Conway said.
The season’s success is still to be determined, but with guys as confident as Gohlke, success is as easy as open 3s.