Ron Kantowski eulogizes a ‘wacko’ NCAA rule that, while used innocently enough by UNLV’s Lon and Kevin Kruger, left the door open for ‘unintended consequences’

Monday, Jan. 8, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

The Kevin Kruger Rule is dead.

Great, says Utah coach Ray Giacoletti. Now you tell me.

Actually, there is no Kruger Rule per se, although that's what the NCAA's so-called "graduate transfer rule" allowing Kevin Kruger to play basketball at UNLV for his dad, Lon, may come to be known.

Son of Kruger was the first NCAA athlete-student to take advantage of Rule 2005-54, which permits "a student-athlete who is enrolled in a specific graduate degree program of an institution (UNLV) other than the institution from which he or she previously received a baccalaureate degree (Arizona State) to participate in intercollegiate athletics regardless of any previous transfer."

In theory, it probably sounded like a good idea, especially if an athlete-student wanted to enroll in a grad-school program not on the curriculum at his previous school. But in practice, the rule seemed on the verge of creating a scenario by which players who go to class and ace their calculus final could become "free agents" for their senior seasons.

So on Saturday, the NCAA did a Barney Fife. They nipped the new rule in the bud before NCAA president Dr. Myles Brand was forced to deputize Otis.

Kruger's situation, it should be noted, was unique. There was nothing untoward about it; it had little to do with creating competitive advantages or disadvantages. It was simply a matter of a kid wanting to play for his old man, and who could fault either for that?

Besides Giacoletti, that is. On Wednesday, Kruger scored 25 points and sank eight 3-point baskets to spark the Rebels to a 97-94 double-overtime victory against Giacoletti's Utah Utes in their Mountain West opener at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik, on the other hand, probably doesn't have a big problem with the rule. On Saturday, Kruger was just 1-for-9 beyond the arc as the Rebels saw their 10-game winning streak come to an end against the 20th-ranked Falcons in Colorado Springs.

As Texas A&M-Corpus Christi coach Ronnie Arrow told the Sun's Rob Miech after Kruger scored 23 points against his team: "He's a nice kid, but what kind of rule is that? You go to a school for four years, graduate, and then go wherever you want?

"That's wacko."

That's sort of what Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, said, although he didn't exactly use that word. Guys who wear suits seldom do.

"I am worried about the integrity of the game," Haney said, in which case Bob Huggins also should have been rescinded on Saturday. (Just kidding, K-State fans.) "I see unintended consequences."

Haney said he envisioned a scenario where "advisors" would encourage players who did their homework to transfer to bigger schools for more exposure.

So next year, when Kevin Kruger is sinking 3-point baskets in Italy or is making his first million in private business, it'll be back to the status quo i.e., AAU coaches advising their summer league players on which schools to attend for more exposure.

That doesn't change the fact that UNLV's father and child reunion is such a neat story that Paul Simon should write a song about it. This is shaping up as a season that both Krugers will remember long after the K-State graduation rate hits zero, but Arrow hit the bull's-eye when he called the transfer rule "wacko."

In fact, I'd go as far as to call it the worst rule since your mom made you eat your vegetables because kids in Africa were starving.

Why couldn't she have just said that vegetables are a good source of nutrition? That way I wouldn't feel personally responsible for Ethiopia's poor economy for having fed broccoli to our dog.

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