Krugers’ latest relocation pans out

By Stu Durando - St. Louis Post-Dispatch     Mar 23, 2007

? His entire childhood, Kevin Kruger was at the mercy of his father’s career decisions, which took the family from Edinburg, Texas, to Manhattan, Kan., Gainesville, Fla., Champaign, Ill., and Atlanta.

Like many coaches’ kids, he was constantly uprooted, leaving schools and friends. Dad emphasized the learning experience of living in different places, as if Kevin would embrace that philosophy.

The bottom line?

“At 3, I didn’t hold a whole lot of rank in the house,” Kruger said.

But ultimately the concept of relocation took hold. And in a roundabout matter of speaking, life’s early upheavals helped lead Nevada-Las Vegas to a spot in the Midwest Regional semifinals, where the Rebels will face Oregon tonight in the Edward Jones Dome.

Despite being settled for four years at Arizona State, Kruger decided to take advantage of a short-lived NCAA rule that allowed him to transfer to UNLV to play for his father, Lon. The rule allowed students who have graduated but have eligibility remaining to transfer without sitting a year. Regulation 2005-54 was controversial during its short life.

“The NCAA has a million rules,” Kevin Kruger said. “Most of them go unnoticed and unused and some are talked about every day. I don’t know why it lasted one year. That’s really the NCAA’s fault, not mine. They had a rule, and I utilized it. I didn’t break a rule or bend a rule.”

Kruger honed his skills growing up around college players on several NCAA Tournament teams. He is eighth on UNLV’s single-season list for three-pointers with 78 and has Anderson Hunt and J.R. Rider in his sights.

And years later he has discovered the value of lessons learned from life’s disruptions.

“It was nice,” he said. “Looking back I’m glad I got to do that.”

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24183Krugers’ latest relocation pans out