Former Illinois coach Kruger retires after 35-year career
Current Oklahoma and former Illinois coach Lon Kruger announced his retirement Thursday, culminating a 35-year career that included taking five schools to the NCAA Tournament — with two of them reaching the Final Four — and more than 650 career wins.
Kruger, 68, led Florida to the national semifinals in 1994 and Oklahoma to the same spot in 2016. He is the only coach to lead five programs to NCAA Tournament wins — Oklahoma, Kansas State, Florida, Illinois and UNLV.
Kruger coached the Illini for four seasons, from 1996 to 2000. The Illini won the Big Ten regular-season championship in 1997-98 and reached the NCAA Tournament in 1997, 1998 and 2000. Overall, Kruger was 81-48 in Champaign.
His 674-432 career record ranks 10th among active coaches in wins and 27th all-time.
He led the Sooners to a 195-128 record in 10 years and reached seven of the last eight NCAA Tournaments. In his final season at Oklahoma, the Sooners went 16-11 and ended with a loss to top-seeded Gonzaga in the second round Monday.
Along the way, he built a reputation for fixing struggling programs.
“His track record of successfully rebuilding programs everywhere he coached is made even more impressive when considering how he did it,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe 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.”
Grand Canyon player killed in crash
Grand Canyon senior Oscar Frayer was one of three people killed in a car accident in northern California on Tuesday, the San Joaquin (Calif.) Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed.
Another victim was 28-year-old Andrea Moore, Frayer’s sister. A third name has not yet been released. The crash occurred about 2:30 a.m. on Interstate 5 just south of Walnut Grove, California, according to a statement issued by the California Highway Patrol.
It happened three days after he had eight points, five assists and three blocks in GCU’s NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Iowa in Indianapolis. Frayer was instrumental in the Antelopes capturing their first WAC Tournament championship with his threepoint shooting and defense.
Rutgers discussed delaying tourney game
Rutgers guard Geo Baker said the Scarlet Knights discussed delaying their NCAA Tournament game last week against Clemson as part of an ongoing player protest of inequities in college sports.