Lon Kruger on the UF sidelines during his days in the early 1990s coaching the Gators.
A UF Legacy That Should Never Be Forgotten
Friday, April 1, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Lon Kruger did the unfathomable in leading the Gators to the 1994 Final Four, especially given the mess he inherited.
NCAA investigators weren't the only bloodhounds sifting through the UF mess. The DEA was, too. A grand jury had been convened to determine whether Florida's all-time scoring leader, guard Vernon Maxwell, had received cash payments from UF coaches. Mere days before the 1989-90 season tipped off — with the Gators coming off the first Southeastern Conference title in school history and favored to chase another — Coach Norm Sloan was fired and replaced. Former Tennessee coach Don DeVoe, a noted taskmaster, was hired on an interim basis. Before the season even ended but long after the team's best player (7-foot-2 center Dwayne Schintzius) had quit in January, DeVoe pronounced himself a "no-nonsense coach in a nonsense program" and ultimately announced he did not want the full-time job.
Many wondered who would?
Lon Kruger, as it turned, was the perfect hire at the perfect time.
Kruger showed up 26 years ago and in his fourth year led the Gators on a run to the Final Four — the program's first — that was as magical as it was unimaginable.
Now Kruger is at Oklahoma and back in the Final Four again, four jobs and 22 years later, making the second-longest longest drought between FF appearances only to Ray Meyer, who took DePaul in 1943 and didn't go back against until 1979.
If you're a Gator, or may just admire good, solid people, pull for Kruger when OU takes on Villanova in Saturday night's national semifinals at Houston. What he did for the program, not just in that 1993-94 season but in the run-up to it, should never be forgotten. No one saw that storied season coming.
Just like the match of Kruger to Florida in 1990.
The squeaky-clean Kruger, then 37, was one of the hot young names in the college game and he stunned the profession the day when he chose to jump from his alma mater of Kansas State — just two seasons removed from an Elite Eight appearance — to take on what looked like a near-impossible reclamation project in the throes of an ugly NCAA probe.
Kruger came on board at UF the same year as another up-and-comer.
Steve Spurrier and he became the faces of Florida athletics.
"It's an outstanding selection," ESPN analyst Dick Vitale said at the time. "I was shocked when I heard it. I didn't think Florida would be able to get such a quality coach under the circumstances. Bottom line, he's not a good choice, he's a great choice."
He wasted no time laying down the parameters.
"As a coach, you're responsible for the academic success of your players, for their social conduct and their performance on the floor," Kruger said at his introductory news conference April 3, 1990. "The way you deal with problems is head-on. We don't play games, we don't beat around the bush. We will make things very clear what needs to be done."
In September, the Gators were placed on unsanctioned NCAA probation. That part was now behind him, meaning Kruger could focus on basketball. Kruger's inaugural Florida team went 11-17. His second beat Kentucky, won 19 games and reached the 1992 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden. His third was projected to make the NCAA Tournament jump. Consider at the time the Gators had made three trips to the NCAA in their history, and the number was still three after the '92-93 season that again finished in the NIT and saw the career of Stacey Poole, the program's No. 3 all-time scorer, come to end.
The '93-94 team was picked to finish in the middle of the SEC pack (anywhere from fifth to ninth), but the backcourt of senior Craig Brown and junior Dan Cross became one of the nation's best. Junior forward Andrew DeClercq was a rebounding force and athletic mismatch with his ability to tirelessly sprint the floor. Sophomore center Dametri Hill came from nowhere to give the Gators a scoring threat and big body inside.
The rest was a blend of role-playing and Kruger's magnificent acumen as a tactician.
UF won the SEC East, finished ranked 14th in the nation, got a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, shocked Connecticut in overtime of the Sweet 16 and bounced Boston College in the East Region title game at Miami to lock up that precious Final Four berth and thus treated the Florida faithful to something they'd never remotely experienced.
Though a 3-seed, this was a Cinderella squad.
Along the way, Kruger and the Gators did it with class, integrity and hustle. They weren't the prettiest bunch to watch — unlike Buddy Hield and Kruger's high-scoring Sooners now — but they were easy to root for.
Florida led Duke by double-digits in the national semifinals, only to fall 74-69 behind a second-half surge from Grant Hill (25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists). The season ended with a 29-8 mark and school-record for wins.
UF reached the NCAA Tournament in '95, falling to Iowa State in the first round. During that season, Kruger was crushed by Daytona Beach hotshot Vince Carter's decision to go to North Carolina instead of taking a leap of faith with the Final Four school two hours away. To Kruger, it was a sign.
In '95-96, the Gators took a big step back, finishing 12-16, and two weeks later Kruger was being introduced as head coach at the University of Illinois, a place he felt had more of a basketball tradition to work from. He would later say he'd come to question whether sustained basketball success at Florida was possible.
Note: His successor proved him wrong.
Lon Kruger, though, was the rightest thing that could have happened to the Gators at the darkest of basketball times. He still ranks No. 4 on UF's all-time list in victories (104), fourth in overall winning percentage (.565) and second in SEC winning percentage (.520). For those who were along for the ride, think about the memories he created and legacy he left behind when the ball is tossed Saturday night in Houston.
Go Sooners.
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