A legendary basketball coaching career came to an end Thursday afternoon as Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Lon Kruger announced his retirement.
Kruger has been coaching the game for 35 years, including the final 10 of those happening in Norman and turning around yet another program with the Sooners.
“It's been an honor to serve the University of Oklahoma as its head men's basketball coach over the last 10 years,” said Kruger in a press release. “The people here are certainly amazing and our family is so grateful for the kindness and support expressed by Sooner Nation throughout the past decade.
“The leadership of Joe Castiglione and President (Joseph) Harroz has established an incredible culture and standard that is better than any coach could have asked for. We have such a deep appreciation for the players, coaches and fans. There truly is 'Only One Oklahoma' and it’s a great honor to be a Sooner for life.”
OU earned as high as a No. 7 national ranking this season and saw its season come to a close in an 87-71 loss to No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga on Monday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Sooners went 16-11 this season, and Kruger ends his 10-year career with the Sooners at 195-128, making the NCAA Tournament seven times. The 195 wins ranks him No. 4 all-time at OU.
His 35-year career record ends at 674-432 (a .609 winning percentage), ranking him No. 27 for all-time coaching wins and 10th among active coaches.
It’s almost 10 years ago to the day when Kruger was announced as OU’s head coach, taking over a program in shambles and a combined record of 27-36 in the previous two seasons back on April 1, 2011.
As Kruger had done at other programs, he was able to get the ship righted and quickly. After making the NCAA Tournament in his second season at OU, the Sooners only missed the tournament one other time. OU also would have made last season’s tournament, except, of course, COVID-19 canceled the event
“It's anything but easy to sum up the career achievements and impact of Lon Kruger the basketball coach and person in just a handful of sentences,” said athletic director Joe Castiglione in the press release. “The tremendous success he enjoyed on the court over the last four decades, the meaningful mentorship role he served with players and staff, his dedication to trying to improve the lives of others — it's a career he should certainly be proud of and that everyone should really take the time to study and appreciate.”
OU was the last of six stops for Kruger, coaching at Texas-Pan American (1982-86), Kansas State (1986-90), Florida (1990-96), Illinois (1996-2000) and UNLV (2004-05) before arriving in Norman. Other stops included a head coaching spot with the Atlanta Hawks and being an assistant for the New York Knicks.
Add it all up, and Kruger led 20 teams to the NCAA Tournament. He is the first coach to take five teams to the NCAA Tournament and the first coach to win at least one game in the tournament with five teams.
Taking it a step further, five of Kruger’s teams reached the Sweet 16, and he led two squads to the Final Four with Florida in 1994 and the Sooners in 2016.
For as good as he was on the court, the one common theme that runs with Kruger when anybody talks about him is how well he ran his program off the court as well. His genuine sincerity and integrity became a staple of his career and the programs he ran.
“His track record of successfully rebuilding programs everywhere he coached is made even more impressive when considering how he did it,” Castiglione said. “He won with integrity, humility, class and grace. He did it with superior leadership skills and a genuine kindness that included his constant encouragement of everyone around him.”
There were accomplishments galore for OU players under Kruger: six OU players earned first-team All-Big 12 selections; 32 Academic All-Big 12 honors. In the national spotlight, Buddy Hield was named the National Player of the Year in 2016, while Trae Young was named the National Freshman of the Year in 2018.
Before his coaching days, Kruger was a star at Kansas State. He helped lead KSU to Big Eight titles in 1972, 1973 and was Big Eight Player of the Year in 1973, 1974. His No. 12 jersey was retired by KSU in 2006.
His son, Kevin Kruger, was named the head coach at UNLV last weekend. It’s possible Lon ends up there to spend more time with his family, but one thing is for certain is that he’ll always be a member of the Sooner family.
“We thank him for a great run and for strengthening our men's basketball program,” Castiglione said. “Part of his success stemmed from how intentional he was in connecting with the community and opened all practices to the public; how he focused on former players, coaches and staff and making OU men's basketball a true family affair where everyone was welcome. He and Barb will always be part of and connected to the University of Oklahoma. We sincerely thank them and wish them the best.”
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