- Gohkle made 10 3-pointers in Oakland's first round upset of Kentucky in the 2024 NCAA tournament.
- The Pacers don't have a first round pick, but has three selections in the second round (36, 49 and 50).
INDIANAPOLIS — As Jack Gohlke spoke with reporters in front of the standard wall backdrop along the sideline of one of two practice courts at the Ascension St. Vincent Center, he nodded in the direction of Tyrese Haliburton standing at the opposite baseline talking to Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard.
Gohlke, the guard from Oakland University in Michigan who took a star turn in this year's NCAA tournament, first crossed paths with Haliburton so long ago he can't remember when. They both grew up in Wisconsin with Haliburton in Oshkosh and Gohlke in the Milwaukee suburb of Pewaukee, separated by a drive of about an hour and 20 minutes. They found each other at various basketball events, such as 3-on-3 tournaments and open gyms throughout their childhood. Both were underappreciated high school talents.
But even though they were standing in the same room Wednesday, their positions were evidence of the diversion of their paths. Gohlke was just finishing up a pre-draft workout, hoping someone will give him a chance in the NBA. Haliburton already has four years in the league, two All-Star trips and a third-team All-NBA nod and he just helped lead the Pacers to the Eastern Conference finals. Pritchard has committed almost a quarter of a billion dollars to Haliburton over the next five years, so Haliburton has some say in who the Pacers pick.
"Surprisingly we graduated the same year of high school," Gohlke said with a smile. "He's been doing his thing in the NBA for a while and it's been really cool to see."
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Still, even though the 24-year-old Gohlke — who is actually Haliburton's senior by almost three months — took a while to get where he is, he's clearly outperformed expectations and he will enter this month's draft among the most intriguing second-round prospects. The 6-3, 215-pounder is by no means a certainty to be drafted or to even be on an NBA roster when the season begins, but his ability to shoot from distance at such a high volume in a league that has come to value the 3-pointer more every year might make him worth a flyer. He could be of particular intrigue to a Pacers team that doesn't have a first-round pick but has three second-rounders at 36, 49 and 50 and will likely have to put one or two of those players on two-way contracts.
Gohlke has always been an excellent shooter, knocking down 88 3-pointers his senior year at Pewaukee when he averaged 16.6 points per game. However, his recruiting attention was limited and he began his career at Division II Hillsdale in Michigan. He redshirted his first year and played just 213 minutes in the next two seasons, scoring a combined total of 65 points.
But in 2021-22 he started 16 of 31 games and in 2022-23, his fifth year at Hillsdale, he won a full-time starting job, averaging 14.2 points per game and knocking down 98 3-pointers at a 40% clip. He still had a sixth year of eligibility remaining after that thanks to the NCAA's decision not to count the 2020-21 season against anyone's eligibility due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he already had his degree in accounting. He was looking for a master's in business, and Hillsdale didn't have one, so he pursued a transfer with the school's blessing.
Gohlke had caught the eye of Greg Kampe, the long-time coach at Oakland who was already a big believer in spacing in 3s. His former pupil Travis Bader had set the all-time Division I record in career 3-pointers in 2014 with 504, though that number has since been surpassed by four other players. Kampe brought Gohlke to Oakland for one year and had him focus far more heavily on 3s than even Bader ever did.
"Coach Kampe has always had guys at Oakland that shoot a bunch of 3s," Gohlke said. "That's kind of their M.O. The way he set up our roster this year was my job was to draw all the attention and space the floor as much as possible, so to do that, I gotta shoot only 3s."
Gohlke came very close to shooting only 3s. Even Bader took at least 119 2-point shots in each of his last three seasons to go with at least 314 3-point attempts. Gohlke took 364 3-pointers this season, making 137, and just eight 2-pointers of which he made four. Between Dec. 2 and Feb. 22, he didn't take a single 2-point shot.
But the formula worked. With forward Trey Townsend giving Oakland a go-to inside presence and Gohlke averaging 13.1 points per game, the Grizzlies won the Horizon League regular season and conference titles. Then in the first round of the NCAA tournament, No. 14 seed Oakland stunned a No. 3 seed Kentucky team loaded with blue chip recruits including multiple likely first-round picks in this year's draft. Gohlke scored 32 points, making 10 3-pointers, the second highest figure in an NCAA tournament game. He hit six more 3s against N.C. State in the following game and scored 22 points, though the Grizzlies lost to the Wolfpack.
The performance was enough for NBA scouts to take notice. Wednesday's workout was his third pre-draft workout and he said he has a total of five or six. For as impressed as they are with his outside shooting, there are other parts of his game they want to see.
"In the NBA nowadays shooting is really valuable and it's something teams are always looking for," Gohlke said. "They're obviously liking that and seeing how I shot the ball, but at the same time, they want to make sure I can score from the 2-point area, some mid-ranges, backdoor cuts to the rim, whatever the case may be just depending on how teams are guarding. There's a lot of good feedback based on the question of, did I shoot 364 3s vs. the amount of 2s because I can't shoot any 2s or is it because that's how our team was designed and that was my role? I really just embraced the role and that was what I did."
Gohlke is trying to make the case he can fit in to whatever role an NBA team can carve out for him, but he's also prepared for the possibility that his professional career may begin elsewhere whether that be in the G League or overseas. Considering the path he had to take to even get NBA workouts, he's just enjoying the fact that he has a chance.
"I'm just going to try to achieve the highest level I possibly can," Gohlke said. "I would really love for that to be the NBA. That would be awesome. But I'll be super happy to play professionally wherever that is."
