Print
E-mail
Share
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterUNLV BASKETBALL:
Analysis: Kruger’s roots run deep in Las Vegas
Despite interest from other programs, UNLV coach feels right at home
Leila Navidi
Coach Lon Kruger runs onto the court as the UNLV basketball team celebrates its first practice with a special event for fans at the Thomas & Mack Center on Oct. 17.
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 | midnight
Anyone who saw Lon and Barb Kruger play host to a few dozen hearing-impaired children and their families Sunday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center witnessed something special.
Special for the Krugers.
As happy and bubbly and eager as those kids were to stretch and shoot with UNLV players, the patriarch of the basketball program and his wife were even more exuberant to make their day special.
Their many charitable endeavors in and around Las Vegas have been rich to the Krugers, and they have found a community that has matched their efforts.
It’s one of the many reasons why UNLV fans can count on Kruger, in his fifth season in Las Vegas, being the Rebels’ coach this time next year, in 2015 and 2020.
As has happened in recent years, Kruger’s name will undoubtedly be included in major openings that will have the coaching carousel spinning wildly, as it usually does, by early April.
Those calls need not be made.
Some around the Arizona program started pondering about Kruger when longtime boss Lute Olson stepped aside before the official start of practice.
That continued last month, when the Wildcats came to the Thomas & Mack Center and got thumped by 15 points. Kruger, some in Tucson believed, would be a great fit at Arizona.
“Kruger … has the kind of credentials (Wildcats athletic director Jim) Livengood is searching for,” wrote the Arizona Daily Star. The Tucson Citizen called Kruger “a perfect fit” for the Wildcats.
He is the lone current coach who has directed four different schools to victories in the NCAA tournament. Former coaches Eddie Sutton and Jim Harrick are the only others in that exclusive club.
UNLV fans who have watched Kruger lead the Rebels to victories in consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time since 1991 need not hyperventilate.
Kruger, 56, has settled down in Las Vegas.
First and foremost, money is not an issue.
A Tucson source scoffed at Kruger’s five-year contract worth about $5.4 million, not including perks, such as a country club membership and incentives like a ticket revenue-sharing plan.
Elite programs could double that without flinching.
At this stage of Kruger’s career, however, it isn’t about padding the bank account as much as it is about putting his own stamp on a once-proud program and reviving it to past standards.
Past national championship standards.
That $10 million from the failed Atlanta Hawks stint secured the Krugers for life.
And if anyone thinks Kruger made out like a bandit with that ticket-revenue deal, think again. He will actually lose money on it until the Mack is regularly packed.
That ticket revenue would go back into the promotions and marketing of the program, and other UNLV teams, in a deal Kruger has arranged with D.J. Allen’s public relations and advertising firm.
Until then, that comes out of Kruger’s pocket, too.
The good faith that UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick showed in getting the Nevada Board of Regents to include that in Kruger’s contract extension over the summer was invaluable in securing Kruger.
Essentially, Kruger has a five-year contract that could be renewed each offseason. Hamrick said he reviews all of his coaches’ deals, where their teams have been and where they’re going, every summer.
As for the ticket-revenue deal, Hamrick said Tuesday that it made sense.
“It’s something beneficial to both parties,” Hamrick said. “If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have done it.”
In late October, when Arizona had its shake-up, Kruger told the Sun about he and his wife’s relationship with Las Vegas and UNLV.
“We’re very pleased with what’s happening,” Kruger said. “We love living here and the fans are great. We just have to keep growing it.”
Others have wooed Kruger with serious offers, especially after that run to the Sweet 16 in 2007.
“Forget interviews,” Allen wrote in “The Xs and Os of Success,” Kruger’s first effort as an author that Allen helped pen, “the offers were there.”
Which leads to the UNLV program that Kruger has so tirelessly shaped into a player again on the national stage.
The legendary Jerry Tarkanian told the Sun that the Rebels’ effort at Louisville last week was the most prominent victory since he left the school.
Recruits from national powers Kentucky (Derrick Jasper), Memphis (Tre’Von Willis) and UCLA (Chace Stanback) have bolted to UNLV because of Kruger’s philosophy of tough defense with a free-flowing offense that incorporates NBA-like schemes.
It isn’t far-fetched to think the Rebels could wind up in a Final Four in the next few years.
That’s the foundation that Kruger has built that won’t exist at any other program, including Arizona, this spring or in future springs.
The Krugers have moved no fewer than seven times over the past 30 years and the enjoy the roots they have established in Las Vegas.
Their son, Kevin, bought his first home here in May. Their daughter, Angie, married Mike Ciklin, a lawyer working for a Las Vegas casino, in September.
In August 2007, Lon and Barb Kruger bought two acres of land in The Enclave, an exclusive gated community in Southern Highlands, on which they will eventually build their retirement home.
That the Krugers have found the Las Vegas area to be so mutually magnanimous in its charitable endeavors cannot be understated.
Does all that sound like someone who’s pining to spend a few years getting another program to where UNLV is right now?
“I simply think he will be here until he’s through coaching,” Rebels assistant coach Greg Grensing told the Sun on the eve of Kruger’s 100th victory at UNLV last month. “I do believe that his roots are tied in pretty good in Las Vegas.”
Others may call Kruger. Having such Midwestern values, he’ll pick up the phone.
Don’t expect the conversation to last long.
Discussion: 32 comments so far…
Post a comment
Next Game
Nov. 14, 3:00 p.m. (PST)
- UNLV: Schedule & Stats | Roster
- Air Force: Schedule & Stats | Roster
- Location: Falcon Stadium
- Television: The Mtn., Cox ch. 334
- Line: Air Force by 17.0
- NCAA: Odds | Schedule | Stats
Never can get enough UNLV analysis and chatter? Then this is the stop for you. Join the Sun sports staff in The Rebel Room for your fix.
CSU POSTGAME: A successful snoozer for UNLV
Follow the Rebels
Widgets
Email Newsletters
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Lon Kruger is a class act. We are so fortunate to have him be our coach and I am glad he is here to stay. Let the Rebelution continue for years to come.
Can't disagree Runnin.
Lon Kruger is a genious, and exactly what our program needs.
We in Las Vegas should not take lightly what Lon Kruger has done for the basketball program, UNLV in general, and the city of Las Vegas and surrounds. All of us who love the Rebels should do everything we can to show our appreciation to him and his teams. And we should actively convince others to attend games and help support what Lon is working so hard to build. The Rebelution began when he took the job, and the "overthrow" is now apparent.
Lon Kruger is on pace to become the second most beloved person associated with Rebel basketball, and might even tie the Shark someday if he brings home another national championship.
As for the money, it will be there for Lon when the local economy recovers. Few programs in college basketball can match the financial success that a UNLV head coach can achieve when his team is winning and the LV economy is booming.
The poor economy plus a TV contract that keeps this program completely invisible to anyone who is not already a diehard fan of the program making it difficult to build a new fan base are the biggest reasons why the Mack isn't sold out on a nightly basis.
Keep winning, keep having success in the tourney, and the Mack will be full within a year or two.
Hold your horses their NewYorkRebel. Lon is sincerely appreciated and beloved. But there is only one Tark!
Thank you, Coach Kruger, for finally bringing the program back to where us long suffering Rebel fans always believed it should be! The team is loaded for the next 3-4 years, we're finally getting noticed (and chosen) by the big time recruits, and, most importantly, Kruger refuses to let a player's talent excuse his lack of character.
I like Kruger, but I'd never attend another UNLV basketball game in my life. I grew up in Las Vegas and love this town, but I couldn't believe how disrespectful a lot of the UNLV students were to opposing fans in the stadium. It was appalling. I know a lot of people who will never return to the stadium for that reason.
I'm a UNLV student and I totally agree with you that some of the student's conduct is appalling (especially when we play BYU).
It's disappointing but I know it won't be keeping me away from the Mack :)
avidreader2-
you don't get out much do you? The conduct is no worse than 95% of all college crowds. And even if it was, it seriously keeps you from going?? Ignoring something you don't like is not that hard to do.
exactly Jeff,
avidreader2 and even snyderm, this is college sports! how do you expect a bunch of rabid college kids to act. Go to any prominent program, matter of fact go to any program and you will find die hard students who are just as crazy as UNLV's are. That's what makes the atmosphere great! If you cant take the heat get out the kitchen, go watch Hicksville State U play with all the old folks, or simply yet just don't sit near the student section! And snyderm peeeeaaaaasssseeee don't get started on BYU, their fans are the most disrespectful of all. You hear what they were doing/saying to the Wake Forest players and fans. When has Lon ever had to get on the PA to tell the fans to calm down...... you guys need to lighten up!
Our players wives (which thank god we don't have married basketball players) don't start fights with fans after we lose. BYU is garbage.
Prediction: Lon Kruger will win his first national championship and the school's second before his tenure is finished.
Avid reader and the people avid reader knows who won't attend games are not our customers; we want Runnin Rebel customers in those seats.
Anybody complaining about the student section is someone I would prefer to not have at the games. You're probably the person that tells me to sit down because you can't see.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey. Lon Kruger is the man!!!!
Gray, I can't disagree with you. They can smell a Final Four in the next few seasons. Can't disagree with you, either, Jerry. The hoops "stadium" is no place for the meek.
On the subject matter of this article, chalk me up on the list of fans who think Lon will bring a championship back to UNLV, and he will do it sooner than people expect. He has the formula. All he has to do is sell it to players and fans. He has got UNLV playing Championship Defense. Ok, maybe we are not quite there yet, but it is amazing how much he has accomplished in such short amount of time. (I wish I could say that about the Football program, but that's another story.)
On the sub-subject matter of this article: AvidReader, are you serious? What planet are you from? I bet you leave the games 10 minutes before the final buzzer to beat the traffic, huh? If it were up to fans like you, Thomas and Mack crowd would resemble a Wimbeldon crowd. There is nothing wrong with the Wimbeldon crowd, but that is NOT what we want at T&M. So, do us all a favor and stay home during home games. Let the student body fill up the Mack.... (tsk,tsk,tsk)
He does have the formula, StiRunnin. It helped big time that "the Kevin Kruger" rule allowed him to coach his son for the one and only year of their lives. That was priceless for them but also for UNLV fans. Pieces were in place for that Sweet 16 run -- redshirting Joel Anthony, etc. KK was the igniter. If not for a hot-shooting Oregon rookie, that's an Elite Eight team, at least. Have fun watchin' 'em...
SMB, regardless of what goes on somewhere else against a different team, you'll never convince me that it's OK for our fans to taunt BYU's fans for being Mormon. Is that what part of what makes the atmosphere great?
I'm all for being rowdy at the Mack, I'm one of the loudest in the student section every game, but I think sometimes there should be a line to what we say.
Seriously though, BYU fans are the worst ever. Have they ever had to stop a game at the T&M to tell our fans to stop throwing items onto the court (ahem, Wake Forrest game, ahem).
Now as far as taunting them for being Mormon, that isn't right. But in all reality, it is pretty embarrassing for them to act in a way that dishonors their religion and all that it stands for (mostly family values).
snyderm, I've never herd any student taunt a BYU fan for (or player) for being Mormon, and I've been attending UNLV basketball games for 8 years. If there are any it is a small ignorant minority. Don't label those few you've herd as the majority. A lot of UNLV students and Vegas residents are Mormon themselves....the reason why we despise BYU fans is because they are arrogant, have a holier than thou attitude and always play the victim and blame game. Biggest hypocrites, hence my mentioning of what they were doing and saying during the WF game.
I guess I came across as the "Wimbeldon" type. I'm not. I stand up during games, yell and love the energy. It's just that the last game I went to, fans crossed the line, and yeah, it was at a BYU game. I agree, some BYU students can be "holier than thou" but to generalize ALL of them as being that way is probably about just as bad as me generalizing all UNLV fans as being like the idiots I sat next to in the last UNLV game. I don't think they're all like that, but yeah, it's getting worse, so I'll take your advice, and "stay out of the kitchen.." and I'll do it gladly.
Wow avid hasn't there have been a few games in Vegas since BYU was in town? Sounds like you go to a lot of games and are the expert of the game atmosphere during the home games.
BYU fans are always really nice people to sit next to as well. Didn't their coach have to tell their fans to settle down against Wake?
cant belive this thread. of course the student section is rowdy. find me a student section that isnt. and try wearing red to the marriot center and see how your day goes. west coast fans are typically not nice and as well behaved as midwest fans... just the culture of the beast. but to not go to a game because of a slightly drunk 19 year old talking bad about byu?... stick with the bad traffic in the mack parking lot excuse.
Ok avid reader, nice knowing you. Goodbye!
Rob, TaJuan Porter...that little guy had the game of his life against the Rebs in St. Louis and now he is in relative obscurity. Go figure.
unlvrunrebs,
No, it's not the slightly drunk 19 year old talking bad about BYU. It's the very drunk UNLV student at the MWC Championship yelling "F*** you Mormons" and making a Joseph Smith joke even though he's sitting next to young children cheering for BYU.
Speaking of wishy-washy fans, I was appalled to see a bunch of Arizona fans sitting around us at the game. There were four fans who sat right in front of us, and six who sat right behind us. Now, normally that is no big deal. But we are season ticket holders, and have paid good money to have choice seats in section 105. I know the people in the rows in front and behind us are also season ticket holders, because we see them at all the games. But for that particular game they had given their tickets to Arizona fans "because they couldn't make it to the game". WHAT? What kind of season ticket holder would miss the Arizona game? And worse yet, give their tickets to AZ fans. Thank God we embarrassed them. The Arizona fans did not have fun, because my group (6 total) made sure they realized they were NOT in tucson... :)
BTW, the original owners got an ear full from everybody within 20 feet of their seats when they came back next game.
I can't believe this is such an issue. I have been to every home game this season and I think the energy and enthusiasm is great. There are the occasional comments made in bad taste, but seriously have you never been to a competitive sporting event? Last game there were 14,000 plus people. 10 people making inappropriate comments is like 0.05% of the audience. Don't make the excuse that you don't go because one bad apple spoils the bunch.
I have been going to games since 2002 out here, and back then there were at most 1,500 people. If you want to watch rebel basketball return to the glory days and seriously compete for a National Title, you should be happy that so many people are coming to games. There are tons of seats not near the student section where people sit the whole game and act with a little more civility. As for me I will be in the rowdy student section with my drunk friends. Go Rebels!
On a different note, Im going to the Findlay Prep Basketball game this evening to see future rebel Carlos Lopez in action, and to get a glimpse of Victor Rudd. I hope he comes to UNLV. Ill let you know what I think.
hahah...I'm loving these comments already...
hey STLRunnin, I had a similar experience during the AZ game. It seemed a sizable handful of AZ "students/fans" chose to sit in the UNLV student section, guess they figured they could sit low and wouldn't be ticketed. Needless to say we let them know real quick that this wasn't Tucson and things wouldn't be quite as comfortable. They were rowdy at first (say 10 min into the game) but soon they realized how serious this team and fans were and by the end of the game were quite as mice. A kid even went so far as to say that he was gonna root for UNLV the rest of the season...
gray, yep, Tajuan Porter. How soon we forget.
running, you will enjoy watching Vic tonight. Very electric. See you there. He was at UNLV's practice Wednesday, so ... he might be leaning that way. We'll stay on top of that. Should be a packed house at the H'son Int'l School tonight, so get there early. In fact, I'm gonna leave now... later
Hey SMB, I went to UNLV from 1987 thru 1991. I missed only ONE home game during that stretch (lousy Organic Chemistry exam ...) The student section, like the rest of T&M used to be near capacity for almost all the games back then. And they used to get ROWDY. In one of the games against Lute's Arizona, a young couple in full Arizona gear sat right in the middle of our student section.... SUICIDE. By the end of the game, the girl was in tears, literally.
People, these are sporting events, and sporting events mix people's emotions with alcohol. If people don't want their kids to see rowdy drunk people, they should take them to the zoo, not to a basketball game between two rivals, and sit in the student section. Dah.
I donno about you SMB, but I couldn't talk for two days after the Arizona game. And believe me most of my loud , um CHEER, was directed to the back of the Uof A fans head... GO REBELS!!!
Jeeze. If some of you are complaining about student conduct at the games, take in an Eastern European or Brazilian soccer match. Not to say that their conduct is right, just put it into perspective. And don't be so damned sensitive.
Back to the point of Rob's piece. I think UNLV was very lucky in landing Lon. Bayno often seemed like he could be another Larry Eustachy, Spoonhour was nice in coming out of retirement but didn't seem that effective. Lon has proven one of his major qualifications in dismissing players who lack discipline. Complain about minutes? Doesn't matter if you are our big man: gone. DUI charge? Gone.
If 95% of the parents in this city would hold their kids as accountable as Lon does his players, Las Vegas would be a much better place.
I would sign off with "Go Rebels" but my allegiances lie elsewhere.
"I would sign off with "Go Rebels" but my allegiances lie elsewhere."
It's ok rev, nobody's perfect.
Snyderm, BYU's been here tons of times and they know how UNLV fan's and fans around the country are. Bringing their kids into a known environment that they feel could be detrimental to their upbringing is their problem.
As far as Joseph Smith goes...a lot of his children were raped and/or murdered as part of the persecution he and the church endured in his time. I don't think someone a hundred and 50 years later(roughly) making harsh comments at a sporting event is going to break a child's spirit, let alone Joseph Smith's. That's what family values and good parenting are for.