Ron Kantowski braces for the inevitable suitors who are bound to show interest in UNLV coach Lon Kruger after this improbable season

Friday, March 2, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

Last week, when he was hanging out in the tunnel at the Orleans Arena trying to position himself in Galena High basketball phenom Luke Babbitt's field of vision after the boys' 4A state championship game, I asked UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger about New Orleans.

He said something about sitting down after the season to discuss the nonconference schedule.

I was talking about the NCAA tournament and the possibility the Rebels would be sent to Bourbon Street for their first-round game, which, at least in the mind of this sportswriter, would sure beat the heck out of being sent to any street, avenue, lane or parkway in Buffalo before the spring thaw.

He, apparently, was talking about adding the University of New Orleans to the schedule.

"Oh, is that one of the (tournament) sites?" he said.

Usually, when a coach talks about playing them one at a time, the cliche is usually followed by a giant plume of blowing smoke. When Kruger says it, believe it.

Kruger's undivided attention on the immediate future is why I would never waste the oxygen it takes to ask him about his long-range future. He bristled last year when his name was linked with coaching vacancies at Missouri, Kansas State, Arizona State, North Carolina State and even Hickory High in Indiana, which was seeking a replacement for Norman Dale.

But if Kruger was linked to four jobs better than his current one after a 17-14 season, what's gonna happen if UNLV takes a 28-6 record into the Big Dance and wins a game or two?

He's probably going to become a hotter commodity than Internet photos of an "American Idol" contestant, that's what.

Most of those I contacted about Kruger's future were reluctant to talk on record, although, as one of the higher-ups said, "It's an effin' miracle" what he has accomplished after the Rebels were picked to finish sixth in the nine-team Mountain West.

And before I forget, maybe it's time to give UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick a slap on the back, too. Perhaps the regents knew something I didn't when they inexplicably tacked two years onto his contract a few months ago.

The athletic department still has more problems than Britney Spears. But winning basketball games and graduating players - in that order - are big steps to solving a couple of them, and Hamrick is the guy who signed off on Kruger.

"When I was getting ready to hire a coach, I wanted somebody with character - not a character," Hamrick said when asked if he was taking extra satisfaction in the basketball team's progress after a vocal minority of UNLV fans had complained it wasn't coming fast enough under Kruger.

So taking the necessary steps to keep Kruger here isn't hard to justify, even during a budget crunch. If you've studied finance or big-time college athletics, then you probably know that sometimes you have to spend money to keep making it.

But will throwing Kruger another bone be enough to keep him here if the college basketball blue bloods start tossing steak?

Hamrick says yes. He says his coach likes Las Vegas, and there are things UNLV can do to keep him here, should the big boys call. Others aren't so sure.

"If he wants to win a national championship then he's gone," said one of the big shots, who recited a litany of UNLV shortcomings - small budget, no "soft" money for recruiting, lack of control over the arena, substandard athletic marketing and academic advisory programs, etc. - that would make a job like well, Michigan, for instance, seem much more attractive.

Chancellor Jim Rogers said UNLV shouldn't wait on Michigan or anybody else representing a power conference to make Kruger an offer.

"I think he should be rewarded," Rogers said, adding that he and wife Beverly would be willing to put their money where the chancellor's mouth is, should UNLV decide to make a preemptive strike.

But if none is forthcoming, and you are a fan of hard-nosed defense and high graduation rates, then you had better hope Kruger prefers playing golf to shoveling snow.