Friday, Aug. 15, 2008 | 4:47 p.m.
UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger poses at a phone book recycling function this summer at the Thomas & Mack Center. Since taking over the program four years ago, Kruger has been very visible, promoting his team and UNLV athletics, in and around Las Vegas. Friday morning, he was the opening speaker at a gathering of about 150 professionals at the Stan Fulton Building on the UNLV campus.
Lon Kruger will only be crossed once.
“If someone lies to me, I’ll never believe him again,” he said. “You can’t. There isn’t a degree here. You can’t rationalize it. You can’t, you simply can’t.”
The CEO of UNLV basketball looked and sounded as comfortable addressing about 150 business leaders Friday morning as he is before his players.
Twice, a microphone malfunctioned, nearly splitting eardrums with a high-pitched wail in a conference room in the Stan Fulton Building on UNLV’s campus.
No matter. Kruger coolly handed it off and proceeded without it or a megaphone. Good thing it wasn’t the middle of the season.
He was the opening speaker for a Management Survival Class and deftly conveyed how managing a basketball team is no different than running a company or a sales team.
Along the way, he provided some insight into what, and who, shaped his style and philosophy, what he expects of others, and what they can always expect of him and his staff.
Kruger followed a PowerPoint presentation that will be the foundation of a book he is writing, with publicist D.J. Allen, about leadership. It should be out in October.
The conference was sponsored by In Business Las Vegas, a sister Greenspun Media Group publication of the Las Vegas Sun
It might not have been advantageous to follow Kruger, which was the task of keynote speaker Justin Zappulla, whose theme was Coaching for Sales Performance.
Zappulla hasn’t won any games lately in the NCAA tournament.
Kruger, who turns 56 on Tuesday, has polished his public-speaking skills considerably since he first met with students in middle and high schools around Kansas 35 years ago, when he played at Kansas State.
He talked about those days Friday, but in the context of leadership. They were some of his most candid comments about legendary Wildcats coach Jack Hartman, a harsh disciplinarian.
“I played for a coach who absolutely motivated out of fear,” Kruger said. “No one enjoyed going to practice. No one looked forward to it. Everyone was scared.
“He was a great coach. He got great results. I had a great relationship with him and learned a great deal from him, but that wasn’t me. We’re kind of the other extreme.”
To create a rich learning environment in which players want to arrive early for practice and stay late, Kruger, and assistants Steve Henson, Greg Grensing, Lew Hill and Mike Shepherd, are guided by a golden rule.
“Is that how I would like to be treated?” Kruger said. “And what is it that I would want from my leader, my boss, my coach? It’s not so much about what I say but what they hear. Sometimes we get confused.
“Motivate them in their best interest and they’ll run through a wall for you.”
Being consistent and fair develops trust. Kruger tells his players that they determine who starts and reserve roles. All we do, he tells them, is evaluate what they do every day.
Integrity goes without saying, he said. He implored young coaches not to cheat or lie, two of the few rules that Kruger’s late father, Don, taught him and his siblings.
“There’s a lot of cheating in college sports, probably a lot of cheating in business,” Kruger said. “I can’t imagine a worse feeling than cheating to get a player, then worrying for four years that someone might find out.
“I can’t understand how someone could stand up before 15 players and talk about life skills and character, about being honest, if two or three of them are saying, ‘You cheated to get me. What are you talking about?’ ”
Communication is vital to the foundation, Kruger said, but in the proper way. He never wants to be cursed at, humiliated or embarrassed, and his players know they’ll never be in that position.
Kruger has an 80-20 rule, about the ratio of positive reinforcement to constructive criticism, that he instructs his coaches to use.
That’s why Kruger blames himself after defeats and praises his players after victories.
“Maybe that’s a little boring at press conference, perhaps,” he said. “But I don’t see any reason to say anything negative.”
Kruger is always quick with a handshake or warm greeting.
“Set the tone,” he said. “Leave people feeling special. Do that and people will want to be around you. They look forward to being around you. That’s a good quality to have.
“It’s just as easy to say something good to people, compliment them, say thank you, as it is being critical. It won’t take more time. It may take more thought.”
After speaking for a half hour, Kruger fielded questions for 15 minutes.
That ill-fated stint coaching the Atlanta Hawks was rough, he said. Once, when the Hawks arrived in Detroit in the wee hours, the bus rolled up to the hotel, and a few players rolled out into waiting limousines.
Kruger just looked at his assistants.
“I don’t think they’d do that in college,” he said. The room laughed.
“Losing got old fast. It was a great experience … and we got fired. That’s a good thing sometimes. I thought we’d go down there and fix it. It was humbling.”
Kruger has a penchant for never saying “I.” It’s always “we,” as in, him and wife Barb.
Although she might not like to hear that, when he was asked about combating a bad day, he said, “Barb might have prepared a bad breakfast.”
Again, laughs.
“I don’t get stressed out about too many things that are out of my control,” Kruger said. “You can’t change it.”
They laughed again when he talked about taking over a Florida program that was facing NCAA sanctions and was being investigated by the FBI.
At UNLV, he said, he inherited a solid program. There are no tricks to success. You just need patience and good people.
A conference room of executives and business owners digested the message.
Robert Martin, a 49-year-old manager at the Bank of New York/Mellon Wealth Management, wished he had brought some of his salesmen to hear Kruger’s insight.
“One of the most impressive things about Lon is his visibility in the community,” Martin said. “Jerry Tarkanian got great results, but he wasn’t as giving with his time.
“Lon is so good at it. I don’t think he did a lot of rehearsing, either. It was from the heart. I could listen to him for hours.”
