Jack Gohlke resembles more of an insurance salesman than he does a dragon slayer. But the 24-year-old’s 10 3-pointers helped lift Oakland to a massive upset over Kentucky in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and he’s become sort of a folk hero overnight.
And yes, Gohlke and his Golden Grizzlies teammates are well aware of the social media buzz suggesting that many Kentucky players will be in the NBA this time next season, while Gohlke, despite his impressive 32-point performance, seems destined for a career in insurance.
Gohlke already embraced the online jokes by partnering with TurboTax for an NIL deal. He recognizes that his path doesn’t lead to the NBA, so he’s capitalizing on the situation with humor, and his teammates are definitely on board.
According to Oakland head coach Greg Kampe, who made an appearance with his star player on CBS’s pregame show Saturday, you probably wanted to be a fly on the wall during their team meal. Beyond the thrill of witnessing a Cinderella team bask in the program’s biggest moment, you wouldn’t have wanted to miss the team’s playful serenade of Gohlke with a familiar insurance jingle, a nod to the online chatter about his future career.
According to Oakland's head coach Greg Kampe, Jack Gohlke's teammates got wind of a tweet that said all these Kentucky players are gonna be in the NBA next year, and he's gonna be selling insurance.
They started singing State Farm's jingle: " Like a good neighbor, State Farm is… pic.twitter.com/4zIn0b8nIy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 23, 2024
“I mean, the whole world’s talking about Jack Gohlke; that’s the greatest thing you can have,” Kampe said. “If you could’ve been at our team meal after the game against Kentucky, our players were making so much fun of Jack because somebody had tweeted out that all these Kentucky players are gonna be in the NBA next year, and he’s gonna be selling insurance. (They were) signing the ‘Like a Good Neighbor’ song to him. It was crazy.”
With their tournament journey hanging in the balance with a tough matchup against NC State on Saturday, the Golden Grizzlies hope to extend their Cinderella run. But win or lose, one thing’s for sure: Gohlke’s name might become synonymous with insurance jingles, thanks to the lighthearted online buzz. While TurboTax already secured an NIL deal with him, perhaps a future partnership with Jake from State Farm could be on the horizon.
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About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.