Kevin Kruger gains confidence in 3rd season as UNLV coach

Kevin Kruger repeats the saying: The days are long, but the years are short.

Time flies when you’re trying to build a winning college basketball program.

Kruger is in his third season as UNLV’s coach and will again guide the Rebels into the Mountain West tournament. The No. 4-seeded Rebels will meet fifth-seeded San Diego State in a quarterfinal matchup Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

UNLV has yet to make the NCAA Tournament under Kruger’s watch and probably would have to win the conference tournament to do so this season. But the Rebels won 10 of their final 12 regular-season games, so it wouldn’t surprise many if they won three games in three days to secure an automatic NCAA berth.

There is no question this is Kruger’s best team since he replaced T.J. Otzelberger, who took the coaching job at Iowa State.

UNLV is 19-11 and overcame some serious nonconference stumbles and a forgettable 32-point Mountain West loss to Air Force to finish two games behind league champion Utah State.

“We’ve taken some great steps in the program, and we’ve had some hiccups,” Kruger said. “The amount of things you learn through experience is countless. I’m learning every day. My dad (Lon) told me you never stop learning, and he did this for 45 years.

“I certainly have more confidence now than last year and the year before. Everything that was taught to me growing up is getting more and more solidified in terms of just keep working, keep your head down and be there for the guys as much as you can. Just go compete every day.”

The Rebels haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2013, and it’s one thing that drives the 40-year-old Kruger. To direct UNLV back to March Madness. To the one event players and coaches alike strive for most each season.

He is 56-38 as UNLV’s coach, this season’s Mountain West finish his best since being hired by former athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois.

It was during a nonleague portion of the schedule — when the Rebels lost games to the likes of Southern and Loyola Marymount and finished 7-5 before conference play began — when outside noise about Kruger’s future became louder and louder.

He just didn’t listen to any of it.

“I have social media but am not on it,” he said. “I don’t surround myself with people or listen to opinions or relay opinions that aren’t in our daily lives. I don’t mean it negatively. I know people are there to do a job, and I know fans — I’ve been a fan — want to discuss the good, bad and ugly. It’s part of the business. But the only thing that matters for us is coming in here and being better than at the start of the day.”

Senior guard Justin Webster has been with Kruger all three seasons. He has seen a shift from his coach one year to the next, a sense of maturing on the job.

“He allows us to make mistakes and learn from experiences,” Webster said. “That’s all you can ask for in a coach. I think his first year was trying to figure things out, and last year had more of an identity and this year put it all together.”

Lon Kruger is a staple at UNLV practices. One of the most successful college coaches in history, he was the first to lead five programs to the NCAA Tournament, including the Rebels.

His teams participated in 21 NCAA fields, including two Final Fours.

He knows a thing or two about strolling the sidelines.

And now, he watches his son attempt to return UNLV to where contending for conference and postseason berths is more expected than not.

“I think the team has made progress every year,” Lon Kruger said. “(Kevin) has always had confidence and has always been very secure in what he’s thinking and his ideas. That’s a good combination. He understands he’s still a young head coach, and that’s important, too.”

Time flies.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.