Lon Kruger
Lon Kruger (born August 19, 1952)
Teams coached: Texas-Pan American Broncs, Kansas State Wildcats, Florida Gators, Illinois Fighting Illini, Atlanta Hawks, UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, Oklahoma Sooners
Texas-Pan American record: 52-59 (.468)
Kansas State record: 81-46 (.638)
Florida record: 104-80 (.565)
Illinois record: 81-48 (.628)
UNLV record: 161-71 (.694)
Oklahoma record: 195-128 (.604)
Overall record^: 674-432 (.609)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 20 (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 5 (1988, 1994, 2007, 2015, 2016)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 2 (1994, 2016)
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 4 (1992, 1993, 2005, 2009)
- Big Ten Regular Season Champion: 1 (1998)
- SEC Regular Season Champion: 1 (1994)
- Mountain West Tournament Champion: 2 (2007, 2008)
Awards:
- Big 12 Coach of the Year: 1 (2014)
- Mountain West Coach of the Year: 1 (2008)
- SEC Coach of the Year: 2 (1992, 1994)
- Big Eight Player of the Year: 2 (1973, 1974)
- John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2019)
- National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2022)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2011-2021 | Oklahoma |
| 2004-2011 | UNLV |
| 2003-2004 | New York Knicks (asst) |
| 2000-2003 | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1996-2000 | Illinois |
| 1990-1996 | Florida |
| 1986-1990 | Kansas State |
| 1982-1986 | Texas-Pan American |
| 1979-1982 | Kansas State (asst) |
| 1977-1978 | Kansas State (grad. asst) |
| 1976-1977 | Pittsburg State (grad. asst) |
Lon Kruger Facts
- Lonnie Duane Kruger
- Born August 19, 1952
- Hometown: Silver Lake, Kansas
- Alma Mater: Kansas State University (BS, 1975) / Pittsburg State University (M.Ed., 1977)
- Played at Kansas State under coach Jack Hartman, leading the Wildcats to two straight Big Eight titles in 1972-73
- Named in 1973 and 1974 Big Eight Player of the Year; also played shortstop on the baseball team
- Started off as a graduate assistant at Pittsburg State, a GA at Kansas State and full-time assistant coach under Hartman
- Hired in 1982 as head coach at UT-Pan American (now UTRGV), leading the D-I Independent program for four seasons
- Returned to alma mater Kansas State in 1986 to take over as the Wildcats’ head coach, winning 81 games in 4 seasons there
- Reached the NCAA Tournament each season, but the highlight was the 25-win 1987-88 squad that reached the Elite Eight
- Left K-State for Florida in 1990, coaching the Gators for the next six seasons
- Reached the Final Four as a 3-seed in 1994, losing to Duke in the semifinal round
- Spent four seasons as the head coach at Illinois, winning 22+ games and going to the NCAA Tournament three times
- His 1997-98 team finished 23-10 (13-3) and were co-champions of the Big Ten regular season
- Made the jump to the NBA in 2000, coaching the Atlanta Hawks for two full seasons before being fired midway through his third
- Compiled a 69-122 record during his tenure in Atlanta, missing the playoffs each season
- After a year out of coaching, Kruger was hired to take over as head coach at UNLV
- Went to four NCAATs and two NITs in seven seasons with the Rebels, highlighted by a 30-win 2006-07 campaign
- Hired to his current role – head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners – in April 2011
- Capped off a run of four-straight NCAA Tournament bids by returning to the Final Four in 2016, the fifth for the program and first since 2002
- Has won 195 games and gone to seven NCAA Tournaments during his tenure with the Sooners
- Is one of just three head coaches – with Tubby Smith and Rick Pitino – to lead 5 different programs to the NCAA Tournament
- In March 2021, Kruger announced his retirement after 10 seasons at OU and 45 total years in coaching
- Along with his wife, Barbara, has one daughter, one son (Kevin) and one granddaughter
Lon Kruger Coaching Tree
- Dana Altman (Oregon, Creighton, Kansas State, Marshall)
- Clayton Bates (Western Michigan)
- Horace Broadnax (Savannah State, Bethune-Cookman)
- Chris Crutchfield (Omaha, East Central)
- Tim Duryea (Utah State)
- Steve Henson (UTSA)
- Lew Hill (UTRGV)
- Tim Jankovich (SMU, Illinois State, North Texas)
- Kevin Johnson (Southern, Centenary)
- Rob Judson (Northern Illinois)
- Kevin Kruger (UNLV)
- Robert McCullum (Florida A&M, South Florida, Western Michigan)
- Marvin Menzies (Kansas City, UNLV, New Mexico State)
- Eric Musselman (Arkansas, Nevada, LA D-Fenders, Reno Bighorns, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors)
- Louis Rowe (James Madison)
- Todd Simon (Bowling Green, Southern Utah, UNLV)
- Kirk Speraw (UCF)
- Derek Thomas (Western Illinois)
- Jacque Vaughn (Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only