Column: Kruger a Feel-Good Story at UNLV

UNLV coach Lon Kruger, right, talks to his son and UNLV guard Kevin Kruger during the second half of a Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament game against Utah at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas in this March 8, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) (Jae C. Hong - AP)

The decision wasn't easy. Kruger was comfortable at ASU, even with a new coach coming in, and his father hadn't exactly built a powerhouse in two years at UNLV, going 17-14 and 17-13, respectively.

But it was a chance to play for dad, something that he had never done while growing up in different places with Lon Kruger coaching at Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, and with the Atlanta Hawks.

Kevin Kruger wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity.

"It was something I felt I should do or I would look back on it and wonder what might have been," he said.

Kruger doesn't need to wonder anymore. Despite missing a stretch of midseason games with a deep thigh bruise, he made 74 3-pointers, had 30 steals, and averaged five assists a game.

He also took charge on the court for a team that plays better than the sum of its parts.

"Kevin loves to play and he loves to compete. The effort is never a problem with him," Lon Kruger said. "And we're always talking with him about the game plan."

With good reason. The son of a coach wants to be a coach himself, and Kruger studies opposing teams as closely as any member of the coaching staff.

He also studies how his father treats his players.

"He keeps his cool pretty much. He knows guys make mistakes," Kevin Kruger said. "He's not going to degrade you or say something in front of others. He knows we know when we mess up."

Lately, the Rebels haven't messed up much. They came back from being down 13 points early in the second half to beat BYU for the Mountain West title on Saturday, capping a season like UNLV hasn't seen since the Tarkanian days.

Fans responded by coming out in numbers not seen since UNLV won the national title in 1990 and went undefeated in the regular season the next year. This city loves a winner, and nearly 18,000 people rocked out at the last home game to the band playing "Viva Las Vegas."

It could all end, of course, when the Rebels play Georgia Tech on Friday in Chicago. No one is comparing this to the fearsome 1991 UNLV team that dominated everyone before being upset in the national semifinals by Duke.

But this is a team peaking at just the right time. It has the tenacity to play with anyone.

Perhaps more important, it has a father and son who would love nothing better than to spend a few more games together.

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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org