Oakland coach Greg Kampe is well-versed at transitioning transfer players into the Golden Grizzlies’ high-powered offense. After a rough beginning to Reggie Hamilton’s tenure, the UMKC transfer had become one of the nation’s most prolific scorers, leading the country in scoring last season at 26.2 points per game.
Kampe quickly found Providence transfer Duke Mondy and Hamilton are different players — and different people.
“With Reggie, it was more emotional,” Kampe said. “Reggie pent up emotion in himself and Duke is a quiet guy where you don’t always know what he’s thinking. You knew exactly what was on Reggie’s mind. (The transition) is different, but it’s the same. It’s the same amount of work and the same amount of give and take. It’s just a different amount of interaction.” 
Although they have different personalities, Mondy, like Hamilton, has a knack for providing clutch baskets for the Grizzlies. Mondy sealed Oakland's victory Thursday at South Dakota from the free-throw line, marking the third time this season he's scored the winning basket for the Golden Grizzlies. 
After an impressive 26-point, six-rebound, six-assist and four-steal night Saturday in a win over South Dakota State, Kampe remarked, almost stunned, at Mondy’s thorough presence in the box score. 
Mondy has come off the bench the past six game for the Golden Grizzlies, and he and Kampe seem to have found a middle ground after a bumpy start. More recently, Mondy has 12 assists to just one turnover in the last two games.
Kampe was quick to give Mondy partial credit for the Grizzlies’ turnaround after a blowout loss at home to South Dakota last month. The game-changing defender continues to come up with remarkable steals. He now has a national-best 85 steals, an Oakland single-season record.
“I don’t think you can have a better stat line than (Saturday),” Kampe said. “He had a big game against a first-place team. To throw a stat line like that, 24 games into your career here shows you’re making progress. He’s not fighting me. He’s trying to accomplish what we want and I’m backing down on him a little bit. … We don’t want a robot out there. We’ve got to let him play.”