Lon Kruger, reportedly a candidate for Michigan's coaching vacancy, said he hasn't been contacted by school officials and that he's more interested in trying to maintain the success UNLV had this season. Photo by The Associated Press. UNLV coach Lon Kruger talks to his players on the bench in the second half of the Rebels' 76-72 loss to Oregon on Friday in the Sweet 16. Photo by K.M. Cannon. UNLV players huddle before heading into the arena to face Oregon on Friday in their NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal in St. Louis. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

ST. LOUIS -- UNLV coach Lon Kruger has spent three years building a bridge to the program's past. Now that he's winning big, and with his name linked to job openings, his future is in question.

Soon after the Rebels were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, Kruger said he "absolutely" plans to return next season.

Kruger said he was not contacted Saturday by officials at Michigan, where he is reportedly a candidate.

He said he's more interested in sustaining success at UNLV.

"There's a huge challenge here," Kruger said after the Rebels' 76-72 loss to Oregon in the Midwest Region semifinals. "You feel good about doing this. But, still, what you really want to do is kind of do it on a consistent basis over time.

"I'm not talking to anybody. I have no thoughts or plans of doing anything else. We love Las Vegas and we love the support of the people."

UNLV finished the season 30-7, reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.

"The challenge now is to come back next year ... and obviously it's going to be tough to do more, but that's always the goal," said Kruger, 34-27 in his first two years.

Kruger denied interest in coaching the Wolverines and returning to the Big Ten, where he reached the NCAA Tournament three times at Illinois from 1996 to 2000.

Michigan fired Tommy Amaker last week after he failed to make the NCAA Tournament in six years as coach.

Kruger said he and his wife, Barbara, enjoy living in Las Vegas and neither wants to move to a cold-weather area of the country.

Senior point guard Kevin Kruger said he would be surprised if his father did not return to coach the Rebels.

"I don't think he's going to Michigan. He hasn't talked to me about it," Kevin Kruger said. "Michigan is a little cold. My mom's not really into cold weather ... packing up and moving eight times in the last 10 or 15 years, I don't think that's too high on her list right now.

"This won't be the last Sweet 16 for UNLV in the Lon Kruger era."

Lon Kruger has a transient history. He left Illinois and Kansas State after four-year stays, and in between those stops he spent six years at Florida.

"So nothing really surprises me in this family," Kevin Kruger said.

"The challenge for him is going to be repeating the success of this year. Vegas is going to expect a Sweet 16 next year, and that's a good challenge, and that's one he'll enjoy and he'll embrace."

Before relocating to Las Vegas in 2004, Lon Kruger was fired after three years with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.

Kevin Kruger said his 54-year-old father is no longer young and restless, and that might be the difference in why he wants to stick around and establish something solid with the Rebels.

"I think it's been a great fit for him. He's done the best he could to get his pieces in place and try to get the program back to where everybody remembers it being," Kevin Kruger said.

"He's a little older now and he's not as quick to maybe jump at things.

"He's not as fiery as he once was, you know, he's got a bad leg and bad back. He might not feel like moving around too much more."

Lon Kruger said money will not be a big issue. He earned $824,500 this season, including $75,000 in bonuses for qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and winning two games.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick said he wants to extend the coach's contract, and that extension should include a significant pay raise.

Michigan is believed to be prepared to offer a veteran coach as much as $1.5 million per year. The Wolverines might also go a cheaper route and hire a young coach such as Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery.

Lon Kruger has been mentioned in rumors for the opening at Kentucky, but the Wildcats seem more interested in Florida's Billy Donovan or Texas A&M's Billy Gillispie.

Minnesota was a possible destination for Lon Kruger, but the Gophers paid $1.75 million per year for seven years to hire Tubby Smith away from Kentucky. There is another, less appealing Big Ten opening at Iowa, where coach Steve Alford left to take over at New Mexico.

Lon Kruger loses five seniors and returns a young team next season, but he said the Rebels should be very competitive.

The top returning players will be sophomore guard Wink Adams, freshman point guard Marcus Lawrence, junior guard Curtis Terry, junior forwards Corey Bailey and Joe Darger, and freshman center Matt Shaw.

"We've got a really good starting point, based on what this group did," Lon Kruger said. "The young guys will really benefit from the experience of being in the tournament."

Lamar Roberson, a transfer from Houston, will be eligible as a sophomore and is expected to fill senior Wendell White's spot at small forward. Redshirt freshman guard Troy Cage showed a lot of potential in practices this season.

The incoming recruiting class includes 6-foot-10-inch Emmanuel Adeife of Polk Community College in Winter Haven, Fla., 6-3 shooting guard Mareceo Rutledge of Yuba College in Marysville, Calif., and 6-4 guard Kendall Wallace from Mountain View High School in Mesa, Ariz.

Fan support for Lon Kruger is drastically different from what it was a year ago, when some questioned if he could get the job done.

Now, he's one of the hottest commodities in college basketball.

"To do this in his third year, he's pretty much taken what everybody has said about him and mushed it right back in their face," Kevin Kruger said.

"The coaching staff here, pretty much all of Vegas is now supporting them. Vegas is a great town, and I think this year he'll have the support that he deserves. If that's given to him, I'm sure he'll stay here for a long time."