Ex-UNLV coach Lon Kruger retiring, moving to Las Vegas
Former UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger is putting away his coaching whistle and moving back to Las Vegas.
Kruger on Thursday announced his retirement, ending a 38-year coaching career that also included stints with Texas-Pan American, Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and most recently Oklahoma.
The 68-year-old was the first coach to lead five programs to the NCAA Tournament and is still the only coach to win a game in the Big Dance with five programs. He coached the Rebels from 2004 to 2011 and concludes his collegiate coaching career with a record 674-432 and two Final Four appearances.
He’s moving back to Las Vegas in part to be closer to his son, Kevin, who was named UNLV’s basketball coach earlier this week. He bought a home in Southern Highlands in December for $2.9 million. The younger Kruger jokingly said he offered his father a spot on his coaching staff and noted that Lon will “absolutely be a mentor” as he eases into his first head coaching job.
“I’ll expect and hope that people at UNLV, players, coaches, that he’s somebody they feel free to call,” said Kevin Kruger, who spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the Rebels before assuming head coaching duties. “He’s another person that’s going to support UNLV basketball and hope for the best for everybody involved.”
Lon Kruger was a standout point guard at Kansas State from 1971 to 1974 and began coaching in 1976 as an assistant at Pittsburg State in Kansas. He also spent four years as an assistant at his alma matter and was hired in 1982 as Texas-Pan American’s head coach — thereby beginning his head coaching career.
He guided Florida to its first Final Four appearance in 1994 and returned in 2016 with Oklahoma. He was 161-71 in seven seasons with the Rebels, reaching the NCAA Tournament on four occasions.
His teams reached the NCAA Tournament a total of 20 times. But the highlight of his coaching career was the 2006-07 season, when he coached Kevin with the Rebels.
“Obviously, as a parent, that was probably the best year in coaching for me,” the elder Kruger said earlier this week. “Kevin has always been a Rebel. He’s always thought of Vegas as home.”
Now Lon Kruger does, too.
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
