I spoke with Oakland head coach Greg Kampe today, and he filled me in on an unbelieveable event that he is running next month to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Kampe, who has been the head coach at Oakland for the past 31-years, has organized a one of a kind weekend, including golf and dinner with ten of the top college basketball coaches in the country. He is utilizing the friends that he has made in the business over his long career to do a great thing for cancer research.
There reason behind it? Over the past year, two of Kampe’s players have lost parents to cancer. He has seen first hand the devistation that this disease can cause, and wants to do something about it. Kampe told me, “Obviously this is a really bad disease, but we can beat it. We need to raise money to support research and awareness.” The goal is to raise $500,000 – Kampe said that they are currently at about $120,000.
A veteran coach, and truly one of the good guys in the game, Kampe made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want accolades – he just wants the word spread about this event, and he wants to get people to bid!
Here’s how it works:
There are ten coaches who you can bid on – Steve Alford (UCLA), Rick Barnes (Tennessee), John Beilein (Michigan), John Calipari (Kentucky), Bob Huggins (West Virginia), Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Sean Miller (Arizona), Josh Pastner (Memphis), and Roy Williams (North Carolina). The 10th coach, Kampe, has already been sold!
The winning bidder and two guests will attend a private dinner on Sunday, May 31 with all 10 coaches. Each guest will enjoy a one night stay at the MotorCity Casino Hotel – Detroit’s AAA Four Diamond Award-winning hotel featuring a luxury spa, great dining, and gambling.
Monday afternoon, the winning bidder and his two guests will tee off in a round of non-competitive golf with their selected coach Oakland Hills Country Club (host of six U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships, the 2004 Ryder Cup, and the future host of the 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship). Following an amazing day of golf, guests will enjoy dinner at the course.
The maximum bid is $60,000 per coach. Right now, Alford and Huggins are leading the way with $15,000 each. Calipari is in the middle of the pack at 13K. Roy Williams is in last (c’mon UNC fans). To see all of the coaches and where they stand, you can visit the event website: Beat Cancer Auction.
I told Coach Kampe that we here at HoopDirt.com will do our best to help him spread the word. He has worked extremely hard at promoting this event, and we want to help in whatever way we can. I challenge all of the Kentucky, North Carolina, Michigan State, Arizona, Tennessee, Michigan, West Virginia, Memphis, and UCLA fans to get out there and bid…don’t let your head coach finish last in the bidding!
The bidding ends on May 1st – please help us spread the word!
