I'm "meh" about this.

He's done some great things at K-State, Florida, and Illinoise. Elite 8 and Final 4 appearances are pretty damn good. I've heard he's a pretty good recruiter...he got Mitch Richmond to come to Kansas State (seriously...him doing a good job at Kansas State is pretty impressive).

At the same time...I doubt half of State fans knew who Lon Kruger was before his name came up in our search (and that's being generous). And it's possible that his best days are behind him...not doing well in the NBA or UNLV the past two years.

He's not an exciting hire and he doesn't bring in "OMG we're going to be worldbeaters" type of feel.

But we could do much worse. He is one of our best remaining candidates. Him and PJ are the two best proven coaches we have on our list.

4/18/2006 9:25:20 AM

Quote :

"Now Lon get to work on re-committing Chris Wright."

And stfu. Chris Wright is not that important is he rally....

4/18/2006 9:27:17 AM

Um, i never take Herb's record into consideration at Miami Univ.

Frankly, I dont care what he did.


And I even give him the benefit of the doubt through '99.


But what he did in 2000 was disgraceful.

'01 was a job well done, '02 was blah, '03 was good until he choked it away, '04 was a disgrace with some good fortune (Paul plays and we dont even make the tourney, Uconn plays its worst game of the season), and '05 was good with a major choke at the end.

When I evaluate Sendek I look at his propensity to choke, his propensity to shit the bed against rivals, his propensity to underachieve with loaded rosters, and his propensity to backdoor his way into the NCAA tournament.

Quote :

"I doubt half of State fans knew who Lon Kruger was before his name came up in our search"

Half of our fan base couldnt identify anyone who played on the team in the past decade other than Archie Miller, Julius Hodge, and Andrew Brackman.



[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 9:28 AM. Reason : a]

4/18/2006 9:27:19 AM

Quote :

"rallydurham, thank you for being the voice of reason in this thread...now the rest of you who don't have facts and are going to base it all on a career record, please be quiet and don't run off a coach before he even starts coaching. of course it's not the name anyone put out at first, but it's a solid hire if it happens"

If a man prior to coming into a job (if he is even a candidate for the job) is getting this much heat from the fanbase then that says something about bringing guy in. At this point people should be realistic about the type of candidate Lee will hire. Mostly like a mid-major candidate, or someone people who are not as familiar with. Then again, this is the norm for such coaching searches, whereas a hire like Roy Williams to UNC is really rare.

With that said the fanbase is divided about what their perceptions are with a coach, but I know if I were in Lee Fowler’s shoes I would first be looking at candidates that are the right fit for the program. Thus they are good recruiters, have great interpersonal skills, can relate with both the fans and the players, know how to maintain academic integrity and will bring a winning attitude to the program. When I look at Kruger I only see him able to bring half of that to the table. Yeah he got Florida to the Final Four, but after that he never got past the second round. This fanbase was done with a coach that had taken his team to the NCAA’s for the last five years. Therefore that’s a negative for him when compared to his possible predecessor.

Next, we know Herb was criticized by fans for his lack of personality, even though the media, administration, players and anyone else who had the chance to get to know Herb would say he was a standup guy and have nothing but respectful things to say about him. Various reports indicate Luger’s personality is drier than Herb’s so how is that supposed to help warm some of the Herb haters to him?

You are entitled to your opinion about Luger, but don’t come in acting like people are clueless about what they want. I don’t think Luger will help this program out without totally sweeping Duke and UNC, then taking the team straight to the sweet 16 with I doubt he could do in his first year. This appears to be what is expected by some people anyway.

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 9:49 AM. Reason : .]

4/18/2006 9:27:53 AM

^^ i really hate you


but i have to applaud you for doing what you do.

TWW wouldn't be the same without you

thus, carry on....

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 9:28 AM. Reason : ^]

4/18/2006 9:28:40 AM

Look the man won at Kansas State and fucking Florida.


His results are better at each of those two schools than Rick Barnes results at Clemson (which has a richer history than those two schools combined).


He had good teams at Illinois. I don't know why they lost in the round of 32 every year, but I doubt their losses were as lopsided as ours to Texas, as embarrassing as our loss to Wisconsin, or as big of a chokejob as our loss to Vandy.

4/18/2006 9:32:45 AM

There are better candidates to hang our hat on before we even get to Kruger

4/18/2006 9:34:11 AM

haven't found this confirmed anywhere else yet.

anyone see any other sites reporting this?

4/18/2006 9:36:09 AM

it is all speculation right now, no one knows who Fowler is talking to

4/18/2006 9:37:14 AM

Great, so let me get this straight.

Herb couldnt even come close to beating UNC, and now our new coach has to sweep them every year.


Newsflash, UNC was down last year. That was our opportunity.


If you think we had a shot in hell to come within 20 points of them this year with Herb you are crazy. So if our new coach doesn't sweep UNC and Duke this season, I think I can live with that.

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 9:39 AM. Reason : a]

4/18/2006 9:38:37 AM

i would much rather have the kid from winthrop (marshall)

this is just what we need, someone who has never stayed more than 5 years at one place

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 9:39 AM. Reason : jhu]

4/18/2006 9:38:53 AM

^^ Who said Herb ever beat UNC?

4/18/2006 9:40:31 AM

4/18/2006 9:47:31 AM

Not even sure if I heard of this guy...please tell me more about this


III

4/18/2006 9:52:48 AM

DOES HE RUN A PRINCETON O?? THAT IS THE ONLY QUESTION I CARE ABOUT. THAT WAS THE ONLY CHANGE I WANTED MADE, IF HE RUNS A REAL OFFENSE, HE IS FINE BY ME.

4/18/2006 9:56:24 AM

not sure what kinda offense he runs, but look at some of these low scoring games:

Air Force  52
UNLV       50

Air Force  68
UNLV       55

New Mexico 47
UNLV       39

4/18/2006 10:06:01 AM

Also....

Lon Kruger DID NOT revive Florida basketball...and they were not a DOORMAT before he got there.

I know some of you don't know anything other than NC State basketball history, but Norm Sloan coached at Florida before and after he coached at NC State and did a damn good job there in his last stint.

Norm Sloan at Florida and their SEC Finish:

'84 Third
'85 Fifth
'86 Fourth
'87 Second
'88 Second
'89 First

Then Florida had one off year with Don Devoe and then Lon Kruger came in.

So what Kruger did at Florida was not that special. He did not take a bottom-feeder to the top. He just cleaned up after a bad year after Sloan left.

And Kansas State was not bad either when Kruger came in. He came in after Jack Hartman RETIRED after 16 years of coaching compiling a record of 294-170. Kruger did not have to REVIVE that program either.


Just thought I'd throw that info out there. Which I wish I hadn't found this stuff. I was a little excited and under the impression that he was this great coach that turns programs around...but apparently that is not so.

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 10:07 AM. Reason : .]

4/18/2006 10:06:15 AM

UNLV vs. BYU Attendance (at Thomas and Mack)
2005-06: 9130
2004-05: 11591
2003-04: 14641
2002-03: 13414
2001-02: 11733
2000-01: 11512
1999-00: 12597
1998-99: Did Not Play
1997-98: 13461

4/18/2006 10:07:31 AM

how long ago did all of the NCAA sanctions from the Tarkanian era at UNLV go away?

Was Kruger ever effected by this?

4/18/2006 10:08:36 AM

that is why i was never impressed with his one final four appearance. Nothing about his record makes me impressed about what he has done above what a younger candidate could do. I rather risk it with a younger guy. I mean if Luger is even considered we might as well start looking at Whittenburg, at least he is an alumnus.

4/18/2006 10:08:54 AM

well we don't need him to revive our program either.

there's really no telling what this guy can do here. he can come in here and suck horribly and run us into the ground and destroy everything we've accomplished in 10 years under herb...

OR

he could come in here and win the ACC and more... nobody knows. i say we give him the benefit of the doubt and support him like he's gonna do the latter, and this is coming from someone that wasn't very big on kruger.

that said, only one site is reporting him being our next coach at this point.

and you have to think it must be tough to recruit to UNLV. not only is the NCAA gonna have their eyes all over you, out of state parents can't like the idea of their kids going to vegas...

think about it. if it's between sending your kid to vegas, or ANYWHERE else... where would you send them? and it's not like UNLV has any recent basketball prowess either.

NC State has much more allure to recruits and their parents, and I don't think I'm being biased here.

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 10:11 AM. Reason : ]

4/18/2006 10:09:15 AM

Quote :

"2) Very good results at Kansas State. I have no idea what the program was like when he took over but I doubt they were making elite 8 appearances before him. He made the tournament all four years so that's a very good sign."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_State_University#Basketball
"The program has a long history of success, and has appeared in 22 NCAA basketball tournaments. Kansas State played the University of Kentucky for the national championship in 1951, reached the Final Four four times, the Elite Eight 11 times, and the Sweet Sixteen 16 times. Indeed when Street & Smith's Annual listed the 100 greatest college basketball programs of all time in 2005, K-State ranked 22nd. Despite the strong tradition, in recent years the Wildcats have struggled on the court."
- They've been to the Elite Eight 11 times but the last time they went was in Kruger's 2nd year so the other 10 happened prior to him coming. Heck, KSU's last win period in the NCAA tourney was that same year (1988) and they haven't even made an appearance since 1996 so basically the end of KSU's success seems to be around the Kruger era. They do have a rich history, even played for a national championship. They even have as many NCAA appearances as NC State with 22.

Quote :

"3) His Florida experience is pretty impressive. He put up solid conference results in the SEC (a major conference) at fucking Florida. He made a FINAL FOUR at a school with no previous success in basketball."

The couple years prior to Kruger arriving at Florida had them a tournament team every year and at least 1 SEC championship and a Sweet 16. The coaches for those preceding seasons were greats Norm Sloan and Don DeVoe.

Quote :

"4) His Illinois experience is solid. He posted good overall and conference records in the Big 10. I cant remember exactly what shape Illinois was in when he took over, but I know they were nowhere near elite status... I'm not sure what happened in the '98-99 season, but they bounced back strong the next season so it looks like an outlier."

Kruger took over the Illini from Lou Henson, their all-time winningest coach who also took them to a final four and coached players like Kendal Gill, Derek Harper, and Nick Anderson. Henson already had Illinois at the 20 win level and perennial NCAA tourney team.

Quote :

"5) Atlanta Hawks. Who cares. Pitino, Montgomery, and many others have failed in the NBA. The Hawks fielded lousy rosters while he was there because their management sucks. College success/Pro Success are pretty independent anyway."

I agree that this is a non-issue. The NBA is a different game.

Quote :

"6) UNLV. Only coached one season. No conclusions to draw since I didnt see the season."

He basically did the same thing they had done the previous 2 seasons.

Quote :

"His results are better at each of those two schools than Rick Barnes results at Clemson (which has a richer history than those two schools combined). "

That is an asinine statement.

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 10:16 AM. Reason : .]

4/18/2006 10:14:19 AM

Quote :

"there's really no telling what this guy can do here. he can come in here and suck horribly and run us into the ground and destroy everything we've accomplished in 10 years under herb... OR he could come in here and win the ACC and more... nobody knows. i say we give him the benefit of the doubt and support him like he's gonna do the latter, and this is coming from someone that wasn't very big on kruger."

OR...

He could just be the same 'ol same 'ol. Which is what I'm seeing after looking at his prior results.

4/18/2006 10:16:32 AM

So are we saying that Kruger has a bad history record, unknown history record, or open to debate history record?


III

4/18/2006 10:17:12 AM

Quote :

"Reports are surfacing all over the internet that Lon Kruger will be the new coach at North Carolina State University. This could be the greatest day in the history of UNLV Basketball if this is true. In my opinion, losing Lon Kruger to NC State is bigger than winning the National Championship in 1990! This could be just the break that Runnin' Rebel Basketball needs. If the Wolfpack are dumb enough to sign this bum they will become my new FAVORITE TEAM!! "

http://www.firekruger.com/index.php?itemid=18#more

I don't think the person who does this site is very knowledgable about basketball, but i thought this was pretty funny.

4/18/2006 10:17:53 AM

guy running the site:
http://firekruger.com/forums/index.php?s=3877df4c585c8947db269efa22c9045c&showuser=1

fuck unlv?

4/18/2006 10:22:35 AM

Quote :

"i have absolutely nothing positive to add to this discussion thus, I will say nothing at all "

4/18/2006 10:24:19 AM

Not good. If we do in fact hire him I'll be as big of a supporter as the next guy.

But until then: Do NOT get Kruger!

Are you seriously telling me this guy has more potential to win than someone like Marshall or Haith?

He's coached since 1982 and the best he has to show for it is one final four appearance, two first place finishes in conference, 9 NCAA appearances, a .556 record in-conference, etc.

This is the guy that is better than Marshall(who took fucking Winthrop to the NCAA 6 of the last eight years)?

He's been at respectable programs and the NBA, but he's been mediocre at all levels it seems.

Pan American - mediocre
K State - mediocre
Florida - mediocre
Illinois - mediocre
NBA - bad

4/18/2006 10:29:33 AM

I'm not beatin off to this guy...

But he did a little better than mediocre at K-State, Florida, and Illinois.

4/18/2006 10:31:09 AM

....look at who you're talking to.

some people think anything less then a national championship is mediocre.

4/18/2006 10:31:49 AM

Quote :

"But he did a little better than mediocre at K-State, Florida, and Illinois."

All those programs were "a little better than mediocre" when he got there.

4/18/2006 10:32:15 AM

Quote :

"who took fucking Winthrop to the NCAA won the fucking Big South 6 of the last eight years"

4/18/2006 10:35:06 AM

Quote :

"BiggzsIII FACE DOWN-ASS UP So are we saying that Kruger has a bad history record, unknown history record, or open to debate history record? "

DID YOU EVEN READ THE THREAD?

4/18/2006 10:36:01 AM

I don't like Kruger one bit.

With so many options out there why the hell would we go after this guy.. though he did catch lightning in a bottle in '94..

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 10:36 AM. Reason : was it '94? I think so....]

4/18/2006 10:36:06 AM

this would be terrible

4/18/2006 10:36:21 AM

this would be terrible

4/18/2006 10:37:01 AM

Quote :

"With so many options out there why the hell would we go after this guy"

what options are there?

no one seems to want to come here.

4/18/2006 10:37:18 AM

I admit I haven't looked at ANYTHING to do with the coaching search since Thursday so maybe everyone else said no?

I'm no dooms day person I just don't like Kruger.. whatever though. Hopefully if he hires it works out but I'm not holding my breath...

Can we please, at the very least, have Andrew Declerq and Da Meat Hook on our bench?

4/18/2006 10:40:07 AM

Quote :

"Air Force 52 UNLV 50 Air Force 68 UNLV 55"

you do realize these scores were low b/c Air Force runs the flat-out Princeton O, right?

I have no idea what happened in the NM game.

You people are ridiculous. The Herb lovers are all over him just b/c. Others are all over him b/c he's not Rick Barnes or Calipari or Wright. GUESS WHAT. THIS IS THE MOST EXPERIENCED GUY WE COULD GET. He won the Big 10 with Illinois. He went to the Final Four at Florida. This should be a step up. Look at the other possibilities.

Haith- for all we know, he could turn out to be another Pete Gillen. We have no idea whether he'll be a good coach in the ACC

Marshall- this guys experience is primarily in the BIG SOUTH against fucking Radford and High Point

Whittenburg- he's not ready for a big conference. he's a mediocre A-10 coach

those are our other options. At this point, he is our best option.

And if he was good enough to get called up by the NBA, then he must have something.

4/18/2006 10:41:01 AM

all i see is him losing to air force- twice

[Edited on April 18, 2006 at 10:43 AM. Reason : n]

4/18/2006 10:43:12 AM

and Air Force made the tournament, so?

who can we get right now thats better and not have to work to get to the NIT next year? At least we should be close to where we are now next year w/ him.

4/18/2006 10:44:52 AM

air force made in the the NCAAs thought...so its not THAT bad.

4/18/2006 10:46:10 AM

Here's the thing, when we lost Barnes and Calipari, our chance for a coach that could deliver instant success went down the drain. This Kruger guy might be a "safe" hire, but at the end of the day, he's pretty much already shown all he can do, at weaker conferences against weaker competition. We might not suck horribly but we won't be any better than before. I'd rather us hire some young guy with a lot of unkowns, like a Frank Haith for instance, who may still have the potential for greatness in him.

4/18/2006 10:46:29 AM

Yeah...but they shouldn't have....and they sucked and got beat in the first round.

4/18/2006 10:46:29 AM

then lets get THAT guy

we already have the players for it

they know parts of it


bring on the air force guy

4/18/2006 10:47:18 AM

Quote :

"you do realize these scores were low b/c Air Force runs the flat-out Princeton O, right?"

nope. didn't know that. that's good to hear actually.

that leaves the NM game, but whatever, that's just one game.

4/18/2006 10:49:29 AM

anyway, according to the article on the first page, this isnt happening anyway due to the buyout.

so we probably will end up getting whittenburg. joy.

4/18/2006 10:51:32 AM

Quote :

"Pan American - mediocre K State - mediocre Florida - mediocre Illinois - mediocre NBA - bad"

4/18/2006 10:54:22 AM

Quote :

"so we probably will end up getting whittenburg. joy."

Huh?? Where are you getting this?

4/18/2006 10:55:21 AM

that's just what their AD said.

you think after offering up $2mil + salaries PER YEAR we'd shy away from a $1.5mil buyout?

his yearly salary would most likely be less than $1.5mil here, so we'd still end up paying him a lot less than we woulda ended up paying barnes/cal

4/18/2006 10:55:23 AM