Illinois brings No. 1 road show to Valley High’s unlikely stage

Friday, Dec. 17, 2004 | 10:03 a.m.

Valley High School tournament schedule

Dec. 30

4:30 p.m. -- Illinois vs. Northwestern State

6:30 p.m. -- Cincinnati vs. Longwood

9 p.m. -- Valparaiso vs. Northern Iowa

Dec. 31

11 a.m. -- Valparaiso vs. Longwood

4:30 p.m. -- Northern Iowa vs. Northwestern State

7:30 p.m. -- Illinois vs. Cincinnati

Have any New Year's Eve plans? Want to see the top-ranked team in the land play in town at quaint Valley High School?

Anyone who doesn't know a key person or two, or have a few dollars to spare for someone who just might part with his treasured ducats for the right price, had better have cable.

For the third time in four years, big-time college basketball will be played at Valley. For the first time, the tournament will play host to the game's No. 1 team, Illinois.

Illinois should be 13-0 by the time its marquee Valley game tips off against Cincinnati, which cracked the Top 25 this week (at 25th) and could be 11-0 by New Year's Eve.

As new Illini coach Bruce Weber can attest, the games at Valley can be priceless. In 2001, Illinois brass took note of him when he coached Southern Illinois in a gritty game against the Illini.

Two seasons later, Weber, who served a long apprenticeship under Gene Keady at Purdue, was rewarded with the Illinois gig after Bill Self bolted to Kansas. Last season, the Illini went 26-7 in Weber's debut.

"Bruce will tell you that one of the reasons he's at Illinois is the game they played here against Illinois, when he was at Southern Illinois," said Valley principal Ron Montoya. "The Illinois athletic director saw it and was really impressed with him. When Self left, Weber was the top guy for the job."

Montoya, 54, knows his hoops, which explains this odd marriage between a Las Vegas high school and some of the top Division-I programs.

A prep standout at Riverside (Calif.) Notre Dame, he gained acclaim by matching the 29 points put up by Redondo Beach Aviation star and current Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal in a Corona tournament.

That's when the scholarship offers started pouring in, and he accepted a full-ride to Saint Mary's after averaging 28 points as a senior -- without the benefit of a 3-point shot -- in 1967-68.

"Which just beat UNLV," Montoya said, with emphasis, of the Rebels' Nov. 23 defeat to the Gaels at the Thomas & Mack Center.

He once scored 31 points in a victory at Fresno State.

Montoya has worked in the Clark County School District for 30 years, and he coached the Basic boys' team for six seasons. He is in his seventh year as Valley's principal.

When Chris Spencer, who runs his Worldwide Basketball organization out of Cincinnati, hunted the area for a holiday tournament site more than three years ago, he fortunately ran into Montoya.

Potential venues at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the Mandalay Bay Events Center and the Orleans Arena were off-limits because of NCAA rules prohibiting games played at hotels that have sports books on their property.

Spencer played at Texas-Pan American and had a stint as an assistant coach at Southern Utah.

Northwestern State, Longwood, Valparaiso and Northern Iowa round out the Valley field.

Montoya said no tickets remain in the 2,000-seat Valley gym for the six games there on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31. There's no conflict with UNLV, either, since the Rebels play Pan Am on Dec. 29 at the Thomas & Mack Center before hitting the road.

Fox Sports Net is sending a broadcast crew to work the gem of a New Year's Eve matchup.

"It will be unbelievable, a sea of orange," Montoya said. "You cannot get this close to (Cincinnati coach) Bob Huggins or Bruce anywhere else. They're right there. You can see them and hear what they're saying. It's an unbelievable atmosphere, to have a Division I game in a high school gym."

And the top team in D-I, no less. According to Montoya, the tournament has netted the school district $22,000 in the past and should raise the same amount in two weeks.

"Obvoiusly, it's a 94-foot floor," Montoya said. "But if you've ever been to my gym, it's one of the most beautiful in Clark County. There's red brick all around and we have new red bleachers. It's more than a regular high school gym.

"You look up at the banners and the first one you see is Greg Maddux, the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball. It's ambience."

Pan Am was a no-brainer to play UNLV when the Rebels hired Lon Kruger because that's where Kruger got his first assignment as a head coach. After the team won only five games before he arrived in 1982-83, Kruger guided it to a 20-8 record in '85-86 before jumping to Kansas State.

"Not much was known about what was happening there," Kruger said, "so we could screw up and learn from it, and maybe not have the whole world know about it."

Three or four months into the job, Pan Am administration canned the athletic director and asked Kruger if he'd like to assume those responsibilities, too. No, they did not double his salary.

"I think it was more of a budget matter than anything else," Kruger said. "I said, 'Yeah, sure. Why not?' But it was great, too, because it gave me a sense of, a little more appreciation for, administration, that it wasn't just about what we want for basketball.

"It makes me more considerate, hopefully, of the bigger picture. From an AD's perspective, it's important for coaches to support one anothers' programs. That's why (wife Barbara) and I have always enjoyed going to volleyball, soccer, women's basketball and football games."

Uh, one problem. Lon Kruger's kid's name is Kevin, who has scored 12 twice this season and went for 15 against Vanderbilt.

Bryson K-r-u-e-g-e-r is a 6-foot-7 swingman from Phoenix who transferred to ASU from Yavapai Community College.