Lon Kruger To Call It a Career

The word coming out of Norman late today was Lon Kruger met with his players and told them he’s going to retire.

This doesn’t shock me, but it does put a lump in my throat because I love Lon Kruger. I actually have a framed photo of Coach Kruger in my sports study with my son Chris on one side and my daughter-in-law Elaine on the other side of Coach K inside of the O Club.

I never got to spend much time talking to Coach Kruger as I did with chance meetings with Eddie Sutton, Abe Lemons, and Paul Hansen… but he’s a coach I genuinely respect and admire.

Lon Kruger is easily a Hall of Famer having won 674 games at the DI level with six different schools in his head coaching career which spanned thirty-five seasons.

He was head man at Pan American, his alma mater Kansas State, Illinois, Florida, UNLV, and Oklahoma. Pan American is the only team he coached which didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.

At K State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV, and Oklahoma he took teams to the NCAA Tournament. At Florida and Oklahoma he took teams to the Final Four. At Kansas State in 1988 he took his Wildcats to the Midwest Regionals where they were denied a Final Four berth by of all teams Danny Manning & The Miracles. A season I will never forget as three Big Eight teams made regional final games.

His son Kevin was recently named the head coach at UNLV and you know maybe Lon will pop up as an assistant for his son at the age of sixty-eight. That would be cool.

I by chance met Lon’s assistant head coach at OU, Steve Henson, at an DFW terminal once on a late flight back from Denver. Coach Henson had just landed the UT-SA head job and gushed positive as he talked about Coach Kruger. Henson couldn’t believe I recognized him. He was genuinely very nice after he realized I wasn’t some sort of sick freak stalker. I wonder where Coach Henson’s next job will be after five season at UT-SA?

Coach Kruger won just under two hundred games in his ten years at OU. The Buddy Hield team made the Final Four. He coached two National Player of the Year winners at OU in Buddy Hield and Trey Young.

Coach Kruger is a great golfer so moving back to Vegas to be with his son and the year round golf should be awesome for he and his family.

So…who will Joe C hire as the next Sooner hoops coach?

OU hoops is a good job. Out of the last four head coaches three have made a Final Four appearance with Billy Tubbs, Kelvin Sampson, and Lon Kruger. Jeff Capel made an Elite 8 in Blake Griffin’s National Player of the Year season.

You know who I love…Chris Beard, but I would guess he’s pretty much committed to Texas Tech. I have no idea what the buyout is with Coach Beard in Lubbock…but if were Joe C and I could wrangle an interview out of Coach Beard…that would be my choice.

Joe C…you get Lincoln Riley next to Chris Beard or Dana Altman at Oregon and that’s pretty impressive. I think I’m going to google Coach Beard’s buyout.

Congrats…on a Hall of Fame career, Lon Kruger.

*** Googled it. Yikes. The buyout for Coach Beard is $6 million if he leaves to coach another Big 12 team…$3 million for schools outside of the Big 12. I don’t see that happening coming off a Covid season of monetary losses. Plus…OU has to hire a new women’s coach.

My god…what a voice! He sounds like Bill Self or Coach Sutton. I’d hire him on the spot with that voice. He’s been head coach at Creighton, K State, Marshall, and Oregon His teams have made the NCAA Tournament thirteen times. He’s been named conference coach of the year in each conference he’s coached in over his career.

Actually—OU beat Oregon in the regional finals to advance to the Final Four with the Buddy Hield team. Let’s see if Joe C gets his man. Joe C is sly in this way.

That voice is incredible. It’s like listening to Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. Coach Altman would be a great fit with the core OU has coming back.

I’ve got to get ready for Oral Roberts vs. Arkansas.

One of the classic lines of all time from Atticus Finch which reminds me of Trump supporters…’This poor woman is a victim of ignorance and poverty…but nothing else.”

The end. Have a nice Sweet 16. Hope your team plays well.

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