Lon and Kevin Kruger united in the fight against cancer, love of Las Vegas

Like father, like son when it comes to former UNLV Basketball head coach Lon Kruger and his son, Kevin Kruger, who just completed his first season at the helm of the Runnin’ Rebel program.

But that similarity not only extends to UNLV basketball. Both are united in the fight against cancer.

Coach Lon Kruger—the secondwinningest coach in UNLV basketball history—currently serves as chair of the Coaches vs. Cancer Council. The council is comprised of college and high school basketball coaches and officials who work to increase the awareness and help raise money for the Coaches vs. Cancer program, a partnership between the American Cancer Society and National Association of Basketball Coaches. The organization has raised more than $140 million to fight cancer since its inception nearly 30 years ago.

At the Final Four in New Orleans, Kevin Kruger joined his dad for the first time on the council that has provided direction for the program in the fight against cancer.

Coaches vs. Cancer is a program founded by former Missouri basketball coach Norm Stewart, who in 1989 had to cut his season short when he was diagnosed and received treatment for colon cancer.

Lon Kruger was a fellow Big 8 head coach at Kansas State when he joined Stewart’s efforts in the fight against cancer that would hit closer to home in 1998 when his dad Don, Kevin’s grandfather, died of skin cancer. Kevin Kruger remembers his dad’s involvement with Coaches vs. Cancer when he was a kid.

“One of the things you hear from people is that I’ve never had cancer, but you know somebody that’s been affected in your family,” Kevin Kruger said. “It wasn’t something we talked about a lot, but it (affected him) to be more involved in Coaches vs. Cancer. I saw how hard it was to see his dad go through that. That’s something he was passionate about and wanted to do what he could to help.”

Lon Kruger said everyone’s been touched and has a story to tell about someone they’ve lost or has been affected by cancer, whether it’s a family member, relative, neighbor, colleague, or friend.

“It’s a terrible disease, but we’ve made so many advancements,” Lon Kruger said. “The doctors with technology are doing so many more things now than they could do 23 years ago, and people are living longer and completely beating cancer.”

Kevin Kruger, a finalist for this year’s Joe B. Hall Award honoring the top first-year head coach in Division I, said he joined the council after his dad asked if he would be interested in serving. He called it a “terrific experience” to be part of that council at the Final Four.

The council is made up of some of the top coaches in the nation, including retired Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, retired North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. Stewart is also a member.

“You have (head coaching) legends like (former Connecticut coach) Jim Calhoun and Phil Martelli (who’s now a Michigan assistant) and Brad Underwood (Illinois),” Kevin Kruger said. “It was fun to sit around and join that team. There are a lot of great people to be around. It’s something that’s special. I just want to do my part in helping and spreading awareness.”

As for his son’s involvement, Lon Kruger said the focus has been on getting more diversity and getting younger coaches involved with the council to carry the mantle forward. He said it’s great to have Kevin Kruger on the council after a career in which he played for his dad at UNLV and coached with him at Oklahoma.

“A lot of us on the board are getting older and retiring off of it, so we got to have younger folks step in there,” Lon Kruger said. “It’s been great to have him involved with everything we’re doing.”

Lon Kruger, who retired a year ago from Oklahoma as the only coach in history to win an NCAA Tournament game with five different programs (Oklahoma, UNLV, Florida, Illinois and Kansas State), assumed the chair of the council three years ago.

“Part of Coaches vs. Cancer’s current focus is to promote cancer screenings for early detection to help people treat and survive it. The pandemic delayed appointments for screening. Cancer didn’t stop, and people suffered because of that,” Lon Kruger said. “Coaches all over the country use their platform to raise a lot of dollars and also raise awareness and advocate for others to be involved,” Lon Kruger said. “It’s a good group to be a part of. They’re generally motivated to help fight this terrible disease.”

Las Vegas, and the Kruger family’s love for the community, have become a huge part of the Coaches vs. Cancer story. Lon Kruger founded the Coaches vs. Cancer Las Vegas Golf Classic in 2007 when he was the UNLV head coach and kept growing the annual event even though he coached in Oklahoma for over a decade. “Las Vegas has really been our family’s home for the past two decades,” Kevin Kruger said. “We love this city and the people.” The 15th Annual Classic, presented by Sanford Health and hosted by MGM Resorts International, is set for May 15-17.

The golf event brings together college basketball coaches and business leaders from around the nation, with more than 80 foursomes participating this year. It has raised nearly $12 million in its history, one of the largest events supporting the American Cancer Society.

“The coaches have done a great job bringing the boosters and sponsors; they have been terrific,” Lon Kruger said. “It’s a great three days in Vegas, and this year we will raise over $1.5 million.”

Coaches also are focused on next season’s fundraising efforts. There’s a big emphasis on promotion for Suits And Sneakers Week, which is the last week in January.

“We talked about getting more coaches and CEOs involved and rolling out a campaign in early December in preparation for that (to raise some money),” Lon Kruger said.

They’re also looking to promote White House efforts to reduce cancer deaths. President Joe Biden has reignited his Cancer Moonshot initiative that provides funding to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50 percent in the next 25 years.

“That is a huge step, and, hopefully, Coaches vs. Cancer will be available to use those platforms to help any way we can to get that Moonshot initiative out there,” Lon Kruger said.

Lon Kruger and his wife Barb plan on relocating full-time back to Las Vegas this summer. They spend a lot of time with their grandchildren in Puerto Rico and Las Vegas and follow UNLV basketball closely, but Lon Kruger plans to remain retired at age 69.

“We loved the coaching,” said Lon Kruger, who led UNLV to four NCAA Tournaments in his final five seasons in Las Vegas. “We did it for 45 years. That’s long enough, and we’re looking forward to what lies ahead and getting involved in some charities in Las Vegas as well as anything with the Rebels.”

Kevin Kruger said he’s busy monitoring the player transfer portal to add to the UNLV roster for the 2022-23 season.

“We have a good group coming back, and we have spring workouts that we’re doing with guys,” he said. “We’re still looking at adding a couple of guys to the roster. I’m really excited to build off the way we finished. Last year, at this time, we had one guy that wasn’t in the portal, so we had a complete roster to build. This year, we got a great core group, and we feel we’re in a much better spot compared to last year.”

The fight against cancer is in a much better spot, with the Krugers and Las Vegas leading the way for Coaches vs. Cancer.