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Kruger gives fans their offseason Rebels hoops fix
UNLV coach hosts weekend book signing amid summer lull
UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger talks with fan Jeff Whitehead, with Whitehead’s father Doug looking on, Saturday afternoon at Findlay Toyota.
Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
Odartey Blankson, who played his final season of basketball at UNLV for coach Lon Kruger, greets Kruger on Saturday at Findlay Toyota in Henderson. Blankson leaves Wednesday to play this season in France.
Lon Kruger's book, "The Xs and Os of Success."
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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.”
Discussion: 11 comments so far…
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We're fortunate to have this guy leading our program. Like many fans, I'm very intrigued about the level of talent coming in this season. I will try to maintain reasonable expectations, but there is a lot of reason to be excited about the future here. I've said it on here before: It is fun to be a Runnin' Rebel fan again.
Hey Rob,
Thanks for putting us in the article! i sent you an email.
I too am getting excited to see what the guys can do! They are coming off last year with a bad taste in their mouths and with something to prove! This is going to be a very interesting year indeed!!
Wow, that's a mouthful sufferin. Good thing you're not into slander, eh? As I stated in the piece, every penny of the proceeds from this book endeavor goes to charity. All of it. Contract requirements have nothing to do with him reaching out to drum up support not only for UNLV basketball but all Rebels sports. The rest doesn't even merit a response.
Don't blame Sufferin' Rob, he cain't read two good. That's why UNLV fired his @@@ many years ago.
Either Sufferin' is correct and most of the civilized basketball world is wrong or...you catch my drift.
If Kruger was all about the money, he wouldn't be coaching at UNLV anymore.
@ VegasNative57
That was a well thought out argument. I had not thought about it that way. Well done.
UNLV is lucky to have a coach like Kruger. He has stayed here for six years and each year I fear he is going to leave. If Kruger is such a bad coach, how is he rumored for so many jobs each year. His record speaks for itself. When was the last time UNLV beat Louisville. The sweet 16 etc? You cant measure a coach by NBA players. There are plenty of programs who do not produce many NBA players but are always in the NCAA's. The NBA players will come and there will be years where guys dont get drafted. That is the same in most programs. I could defend coach on and on but we will see as the season is near. Go Rebels!!!
couple little "facts" you are ommiting, suffrin:
1. Kruger has two former Rebels in the NBA: Lou Amundson and Joel Anthony. Don't tell me they would have gotten there under Spoonhour. Neither were on the NBA's radar until Kruger took over.
2. Kruger is the only coach in the MWC to have a winning record in the NCAA tournament. In fact, he is the only current coach to have won a game with a MWC team!
@ Sufferin
Really, thanks moron. You proved my point that you are an idiot. That entire sentence, to which you refer, had many grammatical and spelling errors to make fun of your inability to read.
1 - "cain't" is not a word
2 - "two" should have been too
3 - "good" should have been well.
Well done though. I was surprised you found one of the errors.
Priceless reagan.
LOL! Sufferin' RebelRobert, you've lost your edge. Ya got whomped big time. Not knowing Lon's NBA player record, not reading this event was not-for-profit, getting schooled by a clever poster...one word, dude: SLOPPY!
Keep posting though, it's funny as h.e. double-hockey sticks to read when you walk right into a verbal firing squad.