Former Runnin’ Rebel student-athlete and assistant coach Kevin Kruger was appointed the new head coach of UNLV’s men’s basketball program on March 21, 2021.
Following the 2021-22 season, Kruger was named one of 15 finalists for the 2022 Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I men’s college basketball by collegeinsider.com.
During his first season at the helm of the program, Kruger led the Runnin’ Rebels to 18 wins - the most for UNLV in four years. The team went 10-8 in Mountain West play, exceeding preseason expectations with a fifth-place finish in the league standings. He and his staff revamped the roster with nine transfers, and the team continually improved as the season progressed, advancing 43 spots in the KenPom ratings along the way.
Under Kruger’s leadership, three UNLV individuals earned 2021-22 All-MW accolades: Bryce Hamilton (First Team), Donovan Williams (Sixth Man of the Year), and Royce Hamm Jr. (Honorable Mention).
In Kruger’s second season as head coach, the team won 19 games, including two over ranked teams. The two victories over top 25 squads were the most in a season for UNLV since 2015-16. The Runnin’ Rebels raced out to a 10-0 start in 2022-23, marking the program's best in 34 years, while their non-conference record of 11-1 was their best in 32 years. After the 10-0 start, UNLV was receiving votes in both polls, and Kruger was named the ESPN National Coach of the Week. EJ Harkless, a fifth-year transfer from Oklahoma State, earned Second Team All-MW honors.
The 2023-24 season saw Kruger continue to elevate the program. The Runnin’ Rebels were invited to the postseason for the first time in 11 years (since the 2013 NCAA Tournament), recording their first postseason win in 16 years (since the 2008 NCAA Tournament) and going on to win two postseason games for the first time in 17 years (since the 2007 NCAA Tournament). They hosted a NIT game for the first time in 19 years (since the 2005 NIT) and won 21 games, the most since the 2012-13 season.
Kruger’s third team team finished the season 12-4 in its final 16 games, with Dedan Thomas Jr. named the MW's Co-Freshman of the Year. Thomas Jr. led UNLV in scoring (13.6 ppg) and assists (5.1 apg), setting the MW's freshman assists record with 174 during the season and leading the nation in assists among freshmen.
The Runnin' Rebels also made significant strides against top competition, defeating a top-10 ranked team in No. 8 Creighton at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson for their first win over a top-10 squad in four years, and the first in non-conference play in nine years. UNLV won a total of four games against ranked teams during the 2023-24 campaign, marking the first time it defeated that many top 25 squads in a single season in 11 years (2012-13). Kruger has led the Runnin' Rebels to 7-2 record in their last nine games against ranked opponents, which dates back to January of 2022.
UNLV also won eight true road games during 2023-24, the most since the 2010-11 season. The Runnin' Rebels recorded five victories against NCAA NET Quad 1 teams in Kruger’s third season at the helm, tying for the fourth-most in the MW, and were one of just 33 teams in the country to have five Quad 1 wins. UNLV's 12-6 MW record (fourth place) was its best in four years, tallying four MW sweeps along the way (New Mexico, Fresno State, Wyoming, San Jose State).
The Runnin' Rebels went 6-1 in the month of February (2024), marking the first time they finished that month with only one loss since the 1996-97 season. During an 11-game stretch in conference play, UNLV went 10-1, its best stretch in league play in 32 years since going 18-0 during the Big West season in 1991-92.
When Kruger was tabbed to lead the Runnin' Rebels, he had just completed his second year as an assistant coach for the UNLV program. He returned to his alma mater in April 2019. The point guard on UNLV's 2007 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team as a senior under his father, former UNLV and recently retired Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger, Kevin returned to Las Vegas after spending three years as an assistant coach for the Sooners (2016-19).
With Kevin on the coaching staff, Oklahoma made multiple NCAA Tournament appearances. He was also an assistant coach at Northern Arizona for two seasons (2014-16), following a year as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma. Prior to making the move into coaching, Kevin played professionally from 2007-13.
During his first season on the coaching staff at UNLV in 2019-20, the Runnin’ Rebels tied for second place in the MW, marking the program’s best league finish in 12 years. The team also sent shockwaves through the college basketball world with its victory at fourth-ranked and previously undefeated San Diego State, posting the program’s best true road win since 1991 (a span of 29 seasons).
Achievement in the classroom has been just as important with Kruger on staff. The team turned in a semester grade point average of 3.57 for fall 2020, the program’s highest ever. It also set a record for cumulative GPA of 3.32, with an all-time program-high nine student-athletes on the Dean’s Honor List.
Kruger began his collegiate playing career at Arizona State, where he earned his criminal justice degree in 2006 before transferring to UNLV. In his lone season as a Runnin' Rebel student-athlete, UNLV won 30 games. He earned All-MWThird Team honors and was named to the conference's all-tournament team.
At ASU, Kruger was named an honorable mention All-Pac-10 and second-team NABC District 15 selection in his third and final season in Tempe. Also a Pac-10 All-Freshman honorable mention pick, Kruger left the Sun Devils ranked fourth in career free throw percentage at ASU, fifth all-time in 3-pointers made and attempted, and seventh in 3-point percentage.
Kruger had professional basketball stints in Bulgaria, Italy, China, Mexico, Belgium, and Germany, in addition to NBA training camp invitations from the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks. He also played with the Utah Flash and Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League before launching his coaching career.
His father, Lon, coached the Runnin’ Rebels from 2004-2011 and made four NCAA Tournament appearances (2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011) and an NIT (2009).
Kevin earned a master's degree from Oklahoma in human relations in 2017 and is married to the former Allison Gerding. The couple has two daughters, Cameron (5) and Vivienne, (2), along with a son, Maxwell, who was born in January.
