Kruger's firing a business and a basketball decision

LAS VEGAS — Once again, change is coming at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Kevin Kruger found himself unemployed Saturday as UNLV athletic director Erick Harper decided he needed a new men’s basketball coach. I guess he found someone willing to write the check to pay Kruger the $2.35 million he will be owed for the next two years not to coach here. And he must have gotten the OK from Christopher Heavey, who is overseeing things in the interim while the school launches a search for a new president, to make a change.

Which is probably why it took until Saturday for this to happen. UNLV’s season ended Thursday night. But maybe Harper needed time to find the money and the permission to do what he did.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Coach Kruger for his hard work, commitment, and dedication over the past four years as head coach of the Runnin’ Rebels,” Harper said in a statement released early Saturday afternoon by the athletic department. “While there have been notable achievements during his tenure, there have also been challenges. We have significant aspirations for our men’s basketball program, both within the Mountain West and on a national level, with the goal of competing in the NCAA Tournament. Our expectation is to contend for and win championships. After evaluating the program as a whole, I believe a change is necessary to achieve these goals.”

I know many of you share that sentiment. You are probably hoping Harper has a basketball version of Barry Odom sitting in his desk and with one phone call, UNLV will be back in the NCAA Tournament.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you Kruger has done a great job as UNLV’s head coach. I’m not. He needed to do better. But he has not been an abysmal failure either. He had a winning record (76-55) and did not have a losing season in his four years in charge. He’s not in over his head as some have tried to claim.

Want proof? Despite the injuries that befell his roster (Rob Whaley’s back, Dedan Thomas Jr.’s shoulder and Justin Rishwain’s knee), he managed to adjust things and more important, the remaining players never quit on him and they won seven of their last nine and finished 18-15 overall.

Harper saw that. Still, ultimately, he had to make a change. Because this isn’t just a basketball decision. It’s a business decision too.

If you attended a game in the Thomas & Mack the last couple of years, you didn’t have a whole lot of company. The team averaged under 5,000 for 17 home games this year (4,969). The biggest crowd was 7,466 against in-state rival Nevada on Feb. 28. You could’ve closed the balcony, put everyone downstairs and still had room to spare.

Harper was there most, if not all nights. He saw first-hand the vast emptiness. He also saw more red ink for an athletic department that is currently drowning in it. He recently appeared before the Nevada Board of Regents to try and explain the $31 million hole UNLV athletics is operating in. That figure isn’t sitting well with most, if not all the Regents, nor should it.

Yes, these are trying times in college athletics. Things are totally out of whack with the transfer portal, NIL programs and the NCAA prepared to have to pay out billions to former athletes after losing in court and being forced to settle up. And when you look at a situation like UNLV’s it’s not unique. Far from it. Athletic departments across the nation are operating in the red, even those going to the College Football Playoff or the Men’s Final Four.  

Given the financial situation the athletic department finds itself in, I’m not so sure Harper’s job security is much better than Kruger’s long-term. But he’s in charge at the moment and it was his call to make. Let’s remember, Harper didn’t hire Kruger. Desiree Reed-Francois did. He obviously didn’t share the loyalty to him that she would’ve.

But he will be responsible for the next hire, whoever that may be. And whoever he is, that person better win at a higher percentage than Kruger. It better generate a higher count at the turnstiles, not to mention getting more people to open their checkbooks and donate.

And that person better be able to recruit because you can almost guarantee the cupboard will be bare. It’s almost a certainty Thomas will be moving on as will several of his current teammates.

Yes, it will help that UNLV will get a much needed NIL boost this fall when it receives $1 million to play in the Players Era event at the MGM Grand Garden. Perhaps if Harper can lure a big-name coach that gets the community excited, donations to the athletic department and men’s basketball will increase.

The business of basketball is important. And while having money doesn’t guarantee anything, not having it guarantees you won’t be winning conference championships or making NCAA Tournament appearances.

UNLV last went to the NCAAs in 2013. It last won a game in the Big Dance in 2008. That’s a long time. Too long for a program that has scaled the highest heights. We’ll see if with change comes success.