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 (appro ...

coach and former player. Born in

McAllen, Texas McAllen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Hidalgo County. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexican border. The city limits extend south to the Rio Grande, acros ...

, Kruger played high school basketball at

George Walton Comprehensive High School George Walton Comprehensive High School is a Public school (government funded), public high school located in Marietta, Georgia, Marietta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is in East Cobb, eastern Cobb County, Georgia, Cobb Cou ...

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 Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

and

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

. 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 a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

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, Utah, Provo, Lindon, Utah, Lindon, and Vineyard, Utah, Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake ...

and

Los Angeles D-Fenders The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the NBA G League. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first ...

. 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 Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

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

Lon Kruger Lonnie Duane Kruger (born August 19, 1952) is an American former 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: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

from 2016 to 2019. Returning to UNLV, Kevin Kruger was an assistant coach from 2019 to 2021 before becoming head coach in 2021 until 2025.

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 then 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

, the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

. He attended Centennial High School in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

, where he was a member of the basketball team. At the conclusion of his sophomore season, he moved to

, where he attended

, graduating in 2002. From 2002 to 2006, Kruger attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, 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 gu ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

to play his senior season under his father, by then the 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 team that advanced to the 2007 Sweet 16.

Pro basketball career

Kruger was not drafted after his collegiate career; he was later invited 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

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

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult 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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

's D-League team. He had a career high 35 points against the

Reno Bighorns Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, in the Truckee River v ...

on March 1, 2009. 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 ...

in the

Ethias League The Pro Basketball League (PBL), was the highest tier level professional basketball league in Belgium for clubs. In 2021, the league was succeeded by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. The league is organized by the Basketball League Belgium. The c ...

's 2011–2012 season. They won the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

against the

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Windrose Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, is 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 c ...

, 96–89 in overtime, a game during which Kruger scored 31 points.

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, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

head coaching position, Kruger was promoted to head coach of the Runnin' Rebels on March 21, 2021. Kruger was dismissed from the UNLV head coach position on March 15, 2025.

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 Okapi 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 Sportspeople from McAllen, Texas UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball coaches UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball players Utah Flash players