NCAA Basketball: Top 10 impact head coaching hires from the year 2004

By Joey Loose | Jun 3, 2021

CINCINNATI, OH - DECEMBER 09: Head coach Lon Kruger of the Oklahoma Sooners signals to his players in the first half during a college basketball game against the Xavier Musketeers on December 9, 2020 at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Lon Kruger of the UNLV Rebels (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

2. Lon Kruger (UNLV)

Jerry Tarkanian was a legend of college basketball and he built UNLV into a national champion and contender. However, the program suffered mightily after his departure in 1992, with eight different head coaches over the next twelve years. The Runnin’ Rebels were still scratching their heads by 2004 when the right man came along for the job.

Lon Kruger was already an established coach by the time he took that UNLV job in 2004. He had spent time as head coach at four different D1 schools already, including his alma mater Kansas State, led Florida to a Final Four, and done great things with Illinois. Kruger had also spent three seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, but this UNLV job got him back into the college game.

Following years of struggle, Kruger turned UNLV into a consistent program over the next seven years. During his tenure, they made five NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2007. They became one of the Mountain West’s better programs during the late 2000s and set Kruger up well, leading to him taking the Oklahoma job in 2011. The program has returned to its dormant state since Kruger’s departure, though maybe son Kevin (the new UNLV head coach) could change that again?

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