OAKLAND UNIVERSITY

Former Oakland University basketball player Drew Valentine has been named assistant basketball coach at his alma mater OU. Valentine, a native of Lansing, Mich., spent the last two seasons as a graduate manager on Tom Izzo’s staff at Michigan State. Valentine was a four-year letterwinner for the Golden Grizzlies from 2009-13 and led Oakland to consecutive NCAA tournaments in 2010 and ’11. He finished his career second in Oakland history with 136 games played and fourth all-time in defensive rebounds with 480. Valentine garnered all-league honorable mention honors as a senior and was one of the top defensive players in the conference, posting an O’rena record eight steals versus UMKC (1/17/13).