Kevin Michael Kruger (born May 1, 1983) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former player, currently the head coach at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

. Born in

McAllen, Texas McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...

, Kruger played high school basketball at

George Walton Comprehensive High School George Walton Comprehensive High School, also known as Walton High School, is a public high school located in Marietta, Georgia, United States. It is in eastern Cobb County and is a charter school in the Cobb County School District. It is a Sch ...

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

and college basketball at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and

. Kruger then played professional basketball from 2007 to 2013, including multiple stints with

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

teams

Utah Flash Orem, Utah Orem Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal ...

and

Los Angeles D-Fenders LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significance ...

. After retiring from playing basketball, Kruger became a college basketball coach, beginning as assistant coach at

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially-defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Gila counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the sout ...

from 2014 to 2016. Kruger later worked under his father, head coach

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is a retired American college and professional basketball coach (sport), coach who was most recently the men's basketball head coach of the University of Oklahoma. Kruger played college basketball for K ...

, as an assistant coach at

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

from 2016 to 2019. Returning to UNLV, Kevin Kruger was an assistant coach from 2019 to 2021 before becoming head coach in 2021.

Early life and college basketball career

Kevin Michael Kruger was born in

in 1983. His father,

, was head men's basketball coach at the University of Texas Pan American at the time. Kevin Kruger later grew up in Kansas, Florida, Illinois, and Georgia, as his father later was head coach at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

. He graduated from

, in 2002. From 2002 to 2006, Kruger attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, redshirting his true freshman season in 2002–03 before playing at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

from 2003 to 2006. Kruger had 43 starts in three seasons, including all 28 games in the 2005–06 season. His .812 free throw percentage was fourth best in Arizona State history. As a junior in 2005–06, Kruger averaged 15.0 points and led in minutes per games at 38.96. After graduating from Arizona State in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in justice studies, Kruger transferred to the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

to play his senior season under his father

, head coach for the

UNLV Runnin' Rebels The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are the men's basketball team that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Mountain West Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); it plays at the Thomas & Mack Center on campus. As ...

. In his senior season of 2006–07, Kevin Kruger averaged 13.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists on a UNLV that advanced to the 2007 Sweet 16.

Pro basketball career

After his collegiate career, Kruger was not drafted, later receiving an invite to the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

's training camp. Before the season began, he was cut and drafted by the Flash, the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

team. He had a career high 35 points against the Reno Bighorns on March 1, 2009. In the 2011-2012 season in the Ethias League, Kruger played for

Okapi Aalstar Okapi Aalst is a Belgian professional basketball club from Aalst, Belgium. The club competes in the top tier BNXT League and plays its home games in the Okapi Forum, which has a seating capacity of 2,800 people. Okapi is a long-time participant o ...

. They won the Belgian Cup against the

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, are a Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketball. The clu ...

, 96-89 in overtime, a game during which Kevin scored 31 points. Kruger initially attended Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois, where he was a member of the basketball team. At the conclusion of his sophomore season, he moved to Marietta, GA. He then attended Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia.

Coaching career

Kruger began his coaching career at

as an assistant for two seasons before joining his father's staff at

. In 2019, he returned to UNLV as an assistant coach under T. J. Otzelberger. When Otzelberger departed for the

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

head coaching position, Kruger was promoted to head coach of the Runnin' Rebels on March 21, 2021.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruger, Kevin 1983 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in Bulgaria American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American men's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball players BBC Aalstar players Eisbären Bremerhaven players Los Angeles D-Fenders players Northern Arizona Lumberjacks men's basketball coaches Nuova AMG Sebastiani Basket Rieti players Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball coaches PBC Academic players Point guards Soles de Mexicali players UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball coaches UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players Utah Flash players