Lon Kruger, one of three coaches to take five different teams to the men's NCAA Tournament, is retiring as a head basketball coach. He was expected to inform his team on Thursday afternoon.
The news comes a few days after Kruger's Oklahoma Sooners were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by Gonzaga. Two days earlier, Kruger defeated Missouri, an old rival from his Big Eight playing and coaching days at Kansas State, in the first round.
Kruger, 68, owns a 674-432 career record over 35 seasons at six colleges: Texas Pan-American, Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV and Oklahoma. He took over the Sooners program in 2011 and led it to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in 10 seasons, including the 2016 team led by national player of the year Buddy Hield.
He took Florida to the 1994 Final Four and reached an Elite Eight with Kansas State in 1988. Tubby Smith and Rick Pitino are the other coaches to take five different teams to the men's NCAA Tournament.
Also, Kruger coached for three seasons in the NBA with Atlanta Hawks between stints at Illinois and UNLV.
Kruger's son, Kevin, was hired as the head coach at UNLV earlier this week. The Las Vegas Journal Review, citing reports, suggested that Lon plans to move to Las Vegas, where he recently bought a house.
Kruger grew up a three-sports star in Silver Lake, Kan., and played baseball and basketball at Kansas State. He was Jack Hartman's first recruit to Manhattan and became Big Eight player of the year in 1973 and 1974.
Kruger was drafted by the Cardinals and played minor league baseball. He also was invited to the Dallas Cowboys training camp as a quarterback.
But Kruger soon was coaching basketball, starting his career as an assistant at Pittsburg State in 1976. He was part of the Wildcats' staff from 1977-82, became a head coach at Texas-Pan American for four years, before replacing Hartman at K-State in 1986.
His Kansas State stint was short but memorable. The Wildcats went to the NCAA Tournament each year and were one victory away from the Final Four in 1988 before falling to Kansas in the Midwest Regional final.
Kruger said he wanted to coach somewhere besides his alma mater, and took the Florida job after the 1990 season. More than three decades later, he steps away from head coaching duties.
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Lon Kruger's career record by school/team
1982-86: Texas-Pan American, 52-59
1986-90: Kansas State, 81-46
1990-96: Florida, 104-80
1996-2000: Illinois, 81-48
2000-03: Atlanta Hawks, 69-112
2004-11: UNLV, 161-71
2011-21: Oklahoma, 195-128
College total: 674-432
