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Former OU star Blake Lampman, “the next Drew Valentine,” joins Tom Izzo’s team as GA

The stars of the Oakland basketball team that surprised Kentucky in the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament have gone their separate ways across the country. Trey Townsend transferred to Arizona, Chris Conway to Washington and Jack Gohlke played for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Summer League and participated in the Basketball Tournament as he considers the next steps in his professional career.

Now comes the news that Blake Lampman, who played five seasons for the Golden Grizzlies, is joining Tom Izzo's staff at Michigan State University as a graduate assistant.

Lampman, who turns 23 this month, is originally from Haslett and has been a fan of Izzo and MSU since he was a kid. He even told reporters after the Michigan State-Oakland game last December that his goal was to coach under Izzo one day.

That day has already come.

One of the better 3-point shooters in an Oakland program that has produced many great shooters, Lampman helped the Golden Grizzlies win the Horizon League regular season and tournament last season when Oakland surprised Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and then lost in overtime to eventual Final Four participant North Carolina State in the second round.

He may not have been the most talented player on Oakland's roster – a series of injuries throughout his career took their toll – but his superior basketball IQ made him one of the most valuable players.

Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said Lampman was like a coach on the field and wasn't afraid to come to the coaching staff with ideas for plays before or even during the game. Over the years, Kampe said, maybe “1%” of players have come to him with ideas for plays.

“I think he's going to be a good player,” Kampe said earlier this year when discussing Lampman's future coaching prospects. “He's going to be the next Drew Valentine.”

Valentine, who played in Oakland, joined Izzo's staff in 2013 as a GA before becoming an assistant under Kampe in 2015. He left in 2017 to join the Loyola-Chicago staff and was named head coach there in 2021 when Porter Moser left to take the Oklahoma job. Valentine, 33, has a 58-39 record in three seasons at Loyola, with NCAA and NIT appearances.

Lampman averaged 12.6 points, 3.0 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 28 games last season. He originally joined Oakland as a walk-on in 2019.

In other Oakland news, Trey McDonald, a Battle Creek native who played in a Final Four at Ohio State, has joined Kampe's staff as an assistant. He comes from Virginia Tech, where he was an assistant. Before that, he coached the boys basketball team at Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo. McDonald replaces Mychal Covington, who left to become an assistant coach at Jacksonville University.

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