Kruger’s unique staff carries deep K-State roots

By Ryan Greene

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 | 2:30 a.m.

Any given morning after a Kansas State basketball game, chances are the results will be at least a brief topic of discussion in the UNLV men's basketball office.

With four members of coach Lon Kruger's staff having deep ties to the K-State program — including Kruger himself, as an alum, former player and former Wildcats coach — you could even be bold enough to call them fans.

However, they can all readily admit that their casual interest in Frank Martin's club takes a brief hiatus this week, as No. 18 UNLV takes on K-State at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Orleans Arena.

It turns into just another game to tirelessly prepare for.

But with the Wildcats coming to town, it offers up an opportunity to look at a coaching staff which, in today's world of constant turnover in the profession, is truly unique.

Consider it a study in old-fashioned Midwestern family values and loyalty.

"To me, it's always about trusting people that you're working with every day," Kruger said. "Knowing that they're motivated for the right reasons, and to go out and be self-motivated to get the job done."

Plain and simple, he's gotten the job done at UNLV, creating a citywide buzz with his team's 7-0 start. That shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as he's had similar success at each of his five collegiate stops.

And for the better part of the last 20 years, he's done so surrounded by a similar group which was formed during the K-State days.

Quick trip down memory lane ...

• Greg Grensing, a Council Grove, Kan., native, joined Kruger in 1984 as an assistant coach at Texas Pan-American. He had played at Independence (Kan.) Community College for coach Dan Wall from 1975-77. One of Kruger's assistants, at the time Grensing went to work for him, was Wall's brother. Grensing would head to K-State as an assistant under Kruger in 1986 and stayed through 1994. Following a stint at Creighton from 1994-05, he joined Kruger in Las Vegas.

• Steve Henson's first coaching gig was as an assistant on Kruger's Illinois staff in 1999, but the two went way further back than that. Henson, out of McPherson, Kan., started at point guard for Kruger all four seasons the duo was together at Kansas State from 1986-90. He went on to a successful pro career both in the NBA and overseas and has found coaching stability at UNLV.

• Mike Shepherd was attending Allen County (Kan.) Community College. Neil Crane was the school's head basketball coach and was in touch with Kruger and Grensing regarding Shepherd coming up to work for the program when he transferred to K-State for his junior year. After working for Kruger as a student manager, he joined him on his staff at Florida in 1990. While Kruger was coaching the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, Shepherd, who competed in high school against Kruger's younger siblings while growing up in Burlingame, Kan., joined the organization as a scout. He eventually came to UNLV and continues to be Kruger's right-hand man on the bench.

"I was never fathoming the possibility that 23 years later, I'd still be working with and involved with (Kruger) this many years," said Shepherd, who is the program's director of basketball operations. "I think it's really good, and it obviously speaks about how much we all feel about coach Kruger. I feel like we talk about a family atmosphere all the time, and I know that we try to make that be as much reality as possible.

"Staff cohesiveness is one of the keys to a successful program."

The group currently in place came together during a heyday of sorts for K-State hoops.

Kruger averaged 20.3 wins per season in Manhattan, Kan., with his finest campaign coming in 1987-88. K-State went 25-9 in college basketball's most loaded conference — the Big 8, which included national-title-game opponents Kansas and Oklahoma — advancing to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.

Taking the same job at Florida, Kruger left Kansas State in 1990 and would make four more coaching stops, both in college and in the NBA, before landing in Las Vegas in 2005.

"It was just a case of maybe branching out, going in other directions at that point," Kruger said. "Our kids were at an age where it felt like the move would have been positive for everyone involved.

"Obviously, you always have feelings for people when you leave. As far as regretting the decision? No."

Even though everyone Kruger now is surrounded by at UNLV has gone on their own path for at least a bit since those days in Kansas, many came back, making up a staff that is special in the bond it has across the board.

The coaches and their families have created one large family. And when UNLV players talk about the family atmosphere within the program — which they bring up regularly — it's easy to detect exactly where it comes from.

"It's all a reflection of coach Kruger," Grensing said. "It truly is a direct reflection of what kind of person he is. That's why we're all here, why we love to do what we do. It's because he has such a perspective, has treated us and our families so well, and it's just been a pleasure."

Added Henson: "I think we all recognize how unusual it is, and how special it is. I think we all look forward to coming to work every day. I think it's all because of the tone coach Kruger sets. It's a positive atmosphere, we enjoy working for him and there's a lot of familiarity. Some coaches like to have some turnover, but we feel we're all on the same page this way."

While stability's been a key for UNLV in finding success following more than a decade of nonexistence on the national college-basketball radar, a bit of turnover helped Kansas State get back on the map.

Heading into the 2006-07 season, following years spent in the cellar of the Big 12 Conference, Kansas State made a bold move in hiring former Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins. His name recognition and tough style helped a dormant program gain some respect. K-State officials even reached out to Kruger, asking for his input, during their search.

After just one year, Huggins left to take over at his alma mater, West Virginia. But with the program then in the hands of Frank Martin, a former Huggins aide, things fell into place.

It started by landing one of the nation's top recruits — current Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley — and that, plus a trip to the 2008 NCAA tournament, opened a pipeline of talent from the Washington, D.C., area. The Wildcats have also built around transfers — such as starting guard Denis Clemente from Miami and forward Curtis Kelly from UConn — and by tapping into Martin's contacts in Florida from his days as a high school coach.

On top of that, Martin has surprised some in his first head coaching position by getting his teams to play such a tough, physical, defensive-minded brand of ball.

"He's gotten some real talented kids to buy in and do that," Grensing said. "Coach Huggins was there just long enough to make an impact more as a personality, but Franks' got a program going. They have an identity, and with his and their staff's networking and credibility in certain spots in the country, they're going to continue to get players year-in and year-out."

All of that adds up to UNLV's toughest test this season, according to Kruger. The Wildcats come in at 8-1 following a 71-56 victory at home over Xavier on Tuesday night.

And a group of admitted K-State followers will be anything but that.

At least not again until next week.

"You probably kind of want to win a little more because of all that association and all the people associated with K-State that you know," said Grensing, whose mom, wife and stepson are all KSU grads. "You love your program, and you want your program to show on that particular night that they were a little bit better."