Rebels might have kept Kruger had they opened their checkbook five years ago

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Five years ago, Lon Kruger balked.

And again.

Then he woke up one spring morning and decided that being wanted more than anything else wasn’t so bad after all and left his job as UNLV basketball coach for the riches of running Oklahoma’s program.

Unfortunately for the Rebels, no punch line followed on what was April Fool’s Day.

UNLV finally seems to understand the going rate for an established Division I coach, the financial commitment it takes in 2016 to employ a person it believes is capable of elevating the program to great heights and delivering those NCAA Tournament berths considered more precious than gold.

It appears the Rebels are in the process of offering Lon Kruger-type money to their leading candidate.

Problem: It’s not Lon Kruger.

Kruger is at the Honda Center, where Oklahoma is a No. 2 seed in the West Region of the NCAAs and engages No. 3 Texas A&M today in the Sweet 16. Should the Sooners win, they will meet the winner of Oregon-Duke on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four.

Mick Cronin of Cincinnati spent Wednesday being wined and dined and schmoozed and fawned over by UNLV officials who are set to tender him a contract that will pay north of $2 million annually and perhaps much more, meaning double any Mountain West coach and countless dollar signs more than the Rebels have ever presented anyone.

One’s worth is relative to what another is willing to pay. Whether you believe Cronin’s resume with the Bearcats — a 203-125 record in 10 seasons, six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, having never led Cincinnati past the Sweet 16 — is deserving of UNLV setting school history with its monetary pursuit of him is irrelevant.

This is where the search, often bizarre and a bit clownish and amazingly slow, has taken the Rebels.

Cronin is their choice, and should he return the feeling and accept the job or decide leaving home is too emotional a bridge to cross, nobody can accuse UNLV of not opening its checkbook.

The money was also there in 2011, perhaps not the $16 million that Oklahoma gave Kruger to depart Las Vegas for Norman, but enough to make it extremely difficult for him to leave. But he was allowed to walk, the belief that another could lead the Rebels deeper into the NCAAs having oozed its way into the minds of many.

“We felt good about the UNLV program at the time,” said Oklahoma assistant coach Steve Henson, whose relationship with Kruger dates 25 years, including as a member of his staff at UNLV. “Great tradition, great support, great arena, we had the (Mendenhall Center) practice facility. We felt really good about the team we had coming back. We felt like we were making headway in a lot of areas. We didn’t leave right away. Coach Kruger turned Oklahoma down a number of times.

“I think (UNLV) is a good job. It has some challenges with unrealistic expectations at times and being in the (Mountain West). But it’s a good job.”

UNLV, which for far too long has worried about appearance over substance in these matters, isn’t going to win any news conference by hiring Cronin. But that shouldn’t matter. Whether he can win enough games does and, if he becomes UNLV’s coach under such a salary structure, he needs to in relatively quick order.

The roster might resemble a near-total makeover next season, but north of $2 million in the Mountain West is just that.

When you are making double all conference peers, a group that includes a guy who won a national championship, needing five years to reach the NCAAs as Cronin did when taking over Cincinnati’s program won’t fly in any way.

By all accounts, Cronin was dealt a bad hand — NCAA issues, disenchanted fan base, conference realignment that damaged recruiting — to begin his rebuilding project with the Bearcats. He has averaged 24 wins the past six seasons.

This was also Cronin to reporters in January: “I don’t coach anymore for wins or losses. I’m just being honest with you. I don’t coach for wins or losses or money. I got one house, one car from the west side. I’m coaching for (the players). It’s their season. I’m going to be here next year, no matter how many we win or lose. And if the day comes where I don’t win enough and they ask me to move on, I’ll move on.”

It’s true that things change in three months. In three minutes, really. That’s the business.

But if things fall through and Cronin turns down UNLV, this part becomes really scary: I truly believe UNLV has no clue where it will turn next, nearly three months after firing Dave Rice. How that is even possible is a subject for another day should Cronin decline and requires a detailed account of how the muddled search process played out.

For now, UNLV believes it has its guy and is willing to pay him.

Give the Rebels credit for that.

It’s Lon Kruger-type money.

It’s just not Lon Kruger.

He’s here, about to lead Oklahoma into a second straight Sweet 16.

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 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney