Kruger finds new ‘forever’ at Oklahoma

ANAHEIM, Calif.

His intention was to retire in Las Vegas, to accept the head coaching job at UNLV in 2004 and use the program’s history and brand to build a national contender, to reach the pinnacle of college basketball while guiding the Rebels.

“He planned on staying there forever,” Kevin Kruger said of his father.

That can be a long time and it ultimately didn’t hold Lon Kruger in place, the beneficiary being an Oklahoma Sooners program that on Saturday reached the Final Four by outclassing No. 1 seed Oregon 80-68 in a West Regional final of the NCAA Tournament before 16,232 at the Honda Center.

Kruger climbed a ladder in the late afternoon and snipped away the final strand of an incredibly significant net, some 225 miles from where UNLV officials were huddled on campus trying to determine who would next run their program.

How is that for a Buddy Hield 3-pointer worth of irony?

Five years after Kruger arrived in Norman, many of the players he and his staff identified as those capable of creating this level of magic, more unheralded than not at the time, impressively confused and out-hustled and pretty much dominated the Ducks from the outset of this Elite Eight game.

Hield is the obvious choice for all national Player of the Year awards, but just in case some voters were asleep all season, he went out and scored 37 points while making 8-of-13 3s, some of them from that deep, rarefied air owned and operated by a guy named Steph. Hield is the first player who averages at least 25 points to reach a Final Four since 1990, and his 37 points are the most in the Elite Eight since then.

“You never really know if you can get to (the Final Four),” Kruger said. “It’s so hard. It’s everyone’s goal. We really loved the years we were in Las Vegas. Maybe it was about getting back to the Midwest for our family, obviously things were different financially (at Oklahoma) and the brand is really, really strong.

“Until you’re inside it, you don’t realize how powerful the Oklahoma brand is.”

So he is back, 22 years after leading Florida to a Final Four, the second-longest such span next to those 36 between national semifinals for Ray Meyer at DePaul. Kruger is back and his team will engage Villanova on Saturday in Houston, a rematch of a game won by the Sooners 78-55 in December at Pearl Harbor.

The Wildcats are coached by Jay Wright, whose career includes a stint as a UNLV assistant from 1992-94.

You don’t start changing after 30 years of coaching. You don’t mess with what has worked for so long and in so many places. Kevin Kruger, who as a transfer point guard led UNLV to the Sweet 16 in 2006-07, stood off the court here Saturday and spoke about how his father has gone about building what should one day prove a Hall of Fame resume.

He is the only coach to lead five schools to the NCAAs, five to multiple NCAA berths, five to tournament victories and four to the Sweet 16.

“You know, a majority of this group came to Oklahoma four years ago and just trusted him, trusted the entire staff,” said Kevin, now an assistant coach at Northern Arizona. “A lot of late nights, a lot of early mornings. It’s nice to see all that hard work pay off. (Lon) talks all the time about getting better every day, about doing all the little things that help ensure winning. That’s what he’s about.

“He talks about the Vegas days all the time, how great it was there and that he wouldn’t trade those years for anything. About the city and the fan base. But this, getting to a Final Four, this means the world to him.”

It’s a victory also for faith, for seniors like Hield and Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler and junior Jordan Woodard to have believed in the journey and its leader, to have stayed in school and allowed the process to mature and play out.

To become program guys.

It’s about consistency and continuity, about a coaching staff (Steve Henson, Lew Hill, Chris Crutchfield and Mike Shepherd) who arrived alongside Kruger, all but Crutchfield coming from UNLV, about the Sooners winning more games each season since that time, about establishing a culture and not once deviating from its intent, about winning the next possession, the next game, never getting too high, never too low.

“We knew we were a work in progress,” said Hield, who made 13 of 20 shots Saturday in being named the region’s Most Outstanding Player. “But hats off to (Kruger). He always kept us grounded. He kept us sound, always prepared. Each year, there was a different goal, and this year it was the Final Four.”

Said sophomore center Khadeem Lattin: “We definitely wouldn’t have gotten to the Final Four without Coach Kruger. He’s great. I don’t know if we got him there or he got us there, but we’re going. Hands down to Coach Kruger.”

He climbed a ladder in the late afternoon Saturday and snipped away the final strand of net.

He turned to a section of fans, of so many family and friends clad in crimson, and held it aloft.

Five years later, Lon Kruger has led Oklahoma to the Final Four.

Forever in Las Vegas seems a lifetime ago.

Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney.