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Oakland head coach Greg Kampe’s cancer fundraiser brings in $161,000

Oakland v Indiana

Getty Images

Getty Images

Last month Oakland head coach Greg Kampe announced that he would be hosting a “beat cancer” fundraiser, and the project was different from many that Division I head coaches involved with Coaches vs. Cancer tend to hold. Kampe’s idea was to involve other head coaches with the project by allowing fans to bid on the opportunity to golf with the head coach of their choice at Oakland Hills Country Club May 31 and June 1.

The auction closed Wednesday night, and it’s safe to say that it was a successful one. How successful? When the auction closed Wednesday night $161,000 was the final tally.

Among the coaches participating are Arizona’s Sean Miller, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Michigan’s John Beilein, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and North Carolina’s Roy Williams. Amongst the coaches who joined Kampe in this cause, it was Izzo whose bid wound up being the highest at $19,000.

However dinner and a round on the links with Kampe raised the highest amount of money, with bidding for that opportunity closing at $30,000. According to the Detroit Free Press, Kampe wanted to make a big impact from a financial standpoint. It’s safe to say that he accomplished that goal.

“This isn’t about awareness, this is about getting the money to do something,” Kampe said according to the Free Press. “You’ve got to think big, and I’m thinking big. Did we reach as big as I wanted? No. But what I’ve got to do is make this the best 24 hours in these people’s entertainment lives so they go and talk about it.”