Kruger gives fans their offseason Rebels hoops fix

By Rob Miech

Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

If it’s the middle of August, it must be time to talk UNLV basketball with coach Lon Kruger. Then again, there’s never a bad time to chat with him about his players or his program.

A PT’s Pub in the middle of the season? An offseason telephone-book recycling function in the Thomas & Mack Center concourse? A summertime address to scores of Las Vegas business leaders?

Kruger has done all of the above to keep people talking about Rebels basketball if not all UNLV sports.

Saturday afternoon at Findlay Toyota in Henderson, Kruger and D.J. Allen, who co-authored “The Xs and Os of Success” with Kruger a year ago, met with fans, signed books and answered questions about the season.

How dominant will new point guard Derrick Jasper be? How much will new center Carlos Lopez improve the low-post game? Will Chace Stanback turn sterling practices from last season into a powerful sophomore campaign?

Those were some of the inquiries fielded by Kruger.

“What a great chance to meet coach and talk about UNLV basketball,” said Jeff Whitehead, a 26-year-old mechanical engineer. “It’s going to be a different team this season with some new players.

“I am so looking forward to seeing Jasper. A 6-foot-6 point guard? Wow. I’m especially looking forward to his leadership. I think it’s going to be a very interesting season.”

Individual workouts are around the corner with the start of school, the FirstLook 2009 event is Oct. 16 and the first game is Nov. 14 against Pittsburg State.

Whitehead clutched the book he just had Kruger sign. It is about to go into its third printing, and all proceeds are earmarked for charity.

“I can’t wait,” Whitehead said. “Like that Sweet 16 team in 2007, we’re going to be two deep at each position. Everyone will be fresh. It’s going to be exciting.”

A year ago, a trip to Australia for six exhibition games went a long way to keeping UNLV basketball a hot summertime topic among fans.

Without such an excursion this year, Kruger hoped that Saturday’s 90-minute event would help some fans get their fix of Rebels hoops.

“Anything you can do in the offseason is helpful,” he said. “Without a trip like Australia, this helps.”

Like the fans he spoke with Saturday, Kruger said it is going to be interesting to see who earns the critical roles and majority of minutes in practice.

Ed O’Bannon, a Findlay Toyota marketing and sales executive who led UCLA to a national championship in 1995, sauntered by to talk with Kruger and meet fans.

O’Bannon, who will begin coaching The Henderson International School’s boys’ varsity team this fall, is a regular at UNLV games and is a fan of Kruger and the Rebels.

Former UNLV football player Bill Purcell also is a big fan of Kruger’s and he rousted himself off his couch, where he was watching the PGA Championship golf tournament, to see Kruger.

Wearing a red UNLV football T-shirt, Purcell, the assistant general manager of South Point arena, said he’s been impressed how frequently Kruger stages events to meet and greet fans.

“Coach keeps it relevant,” Purcell said. “He always gets out in the community and a lot of people get to see him and talk with him. That’s very important.”

Wearing a wide smile, former Rebels forward Odartey Blankson, who played his final season for Kruger, stopped by to shake Kruger’s hand and say hello.

Blankson has played in Venezuela and South Korea, and he leaves Wednesday to play for a club in La Havre, France.

“It’s where J.K. Edwards used to play, so he told me all about it,” Blankson said. “I think it will be a great experience.”

Blankson said Wink Adams left Saturday for Turkey, and that’s also where ex-Rebel Dalron Johnson will play this season.

Blankson and Joseph Watkins, Blankson’s cousin who works at Findlay Toyota, both said there is no way that the 2009-10 season will be Kruger’s sixth in Las Vegas.

Fourth maybe, Watkins said. Blankson concurred. A dollar was wagered with a reporter. Both were stunned when Blankson leaned in to ask Kruger what season this will be for him leading the Rebels.

“Sixth,” Kruger said.

Balloons scattered throughout the showroom, Watkins said, were not a part of Kruger’s event.

“It’s a party here every day,” Watkins said. “But this is good for business because he’s attracting people.”

Whitehead and his father, Doug, attend seven or eight games a season. Doug remembers watching Reggie Theus play in the Convention Center with his late father Rulon.

“That got us chomping on the bit,” said Doug Whitehead.

The three generations of Rebels fans watched UNLV win the national championship, in Rulon’s living room decorated with team memorabilia, in 1990.

Jeff Whitehead wears his grandfather’s old red UNLV jacket to games.

“I feel like they’re on the right track,” said Doug Whitehead. “I’m really excited to be a supporter of this club. I think coach Kruger has a great personality and a lot of guys want to play for him.

“A lot of people I talk with feel this team is going to win, and I enjoyed meeting him and the fact that he is so involved in the community.”