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Sooners Can Give Lon Kruger His 600th Win Against His Alma Mater

By Chip Rouse

Jan 18, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger holds back his team after a made basket late in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger holds back his team after a made basket late in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma hosts Kansas State on Saturday in the Sooners penultimate home game of the season. A win not only would even out OU’s season record at home at seven up and seven down, but also would earn Lon Kruger his milestone 600th career victory as a head coach.

Jan 18, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger calls out a play late in overtime against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2017; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger calls out a play late in overtime against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /

Even more poetic is the notion that the milestone win, should it come on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center, would be against the school the OU head coach once played for and served as a head coach.

Coming into this season, Kruger was 4-6 against his alma mater, and Kansas State was victorious at home in the first game against Oklahoma this season. Kruger’s Wildcats had similar difficulty against OU in the four seasons he was the K-State head coach, from 1986-90.

The two teams played nine games against each other while Kruger was the Wildcats’ head coach, with Oklahoma winning six of the nine games. Those were four of the best seasons in Sooner men’s basketball history. During those four seasons, Oklahoma won 116 games, averaging 29 wins a season, and finished no lower than second in the Big 12, including back-to-back championships in 1987-88 and 1988-89.

All things considered, Kruger would probably prefer to have his 600th coaching win come against another team, but given how hard wins have come by this rebuilding year, he is probably happy for any victories his young Sooner team can achieve, regardless of the opponent.

According to Wikipedia’s list of all-time NCAA Division I coaches who have 600 or more wins in their career as a head coach, Kruger will become 33rd on that esteemed list with Oklahoma’s next win.

Two other active Big 12 coaches are on that list: Bill Self of Kansas with 630 career wins and Bob Huggins of West Virginia has 831. Self is 32nd on the list, just ahead of Kruger. Huggins is at No. 7.

Billy Tubbs, the winningest basketball coach in Oklahoma men’s history is 28th on the career list for Division I coaches with 641 victories, 333 of which came as head coach of the Sooners.

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