PDA

View Full Version : Jenni Carlson: OU getting Lon Kruger feels like a letdown



AlboSooner
4/1/2011, 08:06 PM
Lon Kruger is a good coach who has a solid track record at several quality programs.

So, why does this feel like such a letdown?

Kruger met with Oklahoma officials Friday afternoon to finalize a deal to become the Sooners' next men's basketball coach. His hiring is expected to soon be made official, ending a three-week search that began when Jeff Capel was fired.

No one knows exactly where Sooner athletic director Joe Castiglione has been since then. Milwaukee? Memphis? Boulder? Wichita? We may never know exactly where this search has taken him, but we allowed our imaginations to run wild.

And now that the reality is Kruger, it seems a bit anticlimactic.

It probably shouldn't be. Kruger is a program fixer. Five times, he has taken over a program in need of renovation, and five times, he has done the job well and done the job quickly.

Within four years, teams have won wherever he's been.

That doesn't sound too bad, does it, Sooner Nation?

Take his latest rebuilding job. Kruger took over UNLV seven years ago. At the time, the once-proud Running Rebels hadn't won a game in the NCAA Tournament in more than a decade and had been to the tournament only twice in 15 years.

Three years later, the Rebels won 30 games, claimed the Mountain West Conference Tournament title and advanced to the Sweet 16.

Those tournament wins put Kruger in elite company as one of only three coaches to lead four different schools to NCAA victories.

The other two — Eddie Sutton and Jim Harrick.

No doubt Kruger can coach, recruit and win.

But admit it, Sooner fans, when you heard about his hiring you weren't fired up about it. This isn't a jump-up-and-down hire. This isn't let-out-a-shriek news. This isn't rearrange-your-schedule-to-attend-the-pep-rally-announcement motivation.

Maybe as you've heard more about Kruger, the hire is growing on you. Still, the vibe isn't what it could've been.

There's no buzz because there's no Buzz.

Everyone became so enamored with Buzz Williams during this search process. Media lauded him. Fans wanted him. Joe C. probably even called him. But like several other coaches, the Marquette coach ended up with a hefty raise.

Not getting Williams is a letdown.

Well, that's not exactly true. The bummer is not getting someone like Williams. Someone energetic. Someone enthusiastic. Someone engaging.

It's not to say that Kruger is a stick in the mud. He's from small-town Kansas, for goodness sakes. It's bred into him to be a good guy, a friendly lot.

But the 58-year-old isn't running around with his hair on fire, doing YouTube karaoke, spouting witty one-liners. He just isn't the youthful, vibrant hire that pretty much everyone in crimson and cream anticipated.

There may be a day — and it may come very soon — when every Sooner fan is fired up about Kruger. That's because he has a chance to win big. He could put the Sooners back on track with his expertise. He could build a powerhouse with OU's resources.

But today, that type of excitement about Sooner men's basketball seems a ways off.

Is this a bad hire? No way.

Is it an exciting hire?

Meh.

Read more: http://newsok.com/jenni-carlson-ou-getting-lon-kruger-feels-like-a-letdown/article/3554546#ixzz1IK7h7H3t


:rolleyes:

picasso
4/1/2011, 08:09 PM
Of course that was coming. I listened to the radio driving home and for an hour I heard positive calls from most Sooner fans.

Boomer.....
4/1/2011, 08:12 PM
Don't listen to anything she has to say.

Soonerfan88
4/1/2011, 08:14 PM
Wow, I'm impressed. Jenni actually had a few paragraphs in there with more than one sentence.

As for the content.....meh.

Quik Sand
4/1/2011, 08:24 PM
"Is there another kind?"

Red Ada
4/1/2011, 08:59 PM
She spews more methane gas between her legs than a refinery!

They don't call her " Big Smelly " for nothing.

oumartin
4/1/2011, 09:06 PM
She spews more methane gas between her legs than a refinery!

They don't call her " Big Smelly " for nothing.

dude, she has gotten hawt! Well not hawt but cute

sooner518
4/1/2011, 09:09 PM
if 3 weeks ago, you would have said Lon Kruger, I would have probably agreed with her. But knowing that we probably got turned down by a few people already in the last few weeks, I feel a little better compared to some of the names being thrown around.

whether or not thats actually a good thing........

zandozan
4/1/2011, 09:51 PM
Posting anything written by Jenni Carlson is tantamount to intellectual assault.

LiveLaughLove
4/1/2011, 10:10 PM
I danced the Happy Dance.

colleyvillesooner
4/1/2011, 10:29 PM
ColleyvilleSooner: Reading Jenni Carlson is ALWAYS a letdown

StoopTroup
4/1/2011, 11:40 PM
Screw her.

agoo758
4/2/2011, 12:24 AM
Look. I know this has been mentioned before, but I will reiterate that there is nothing illegal about making your paragraphs longer than one sentance. :mad:

SoonerMom2
4/2/2011, 01:34 AM
When Carlson feels let down, then it is an excellent hire for OU. If I remember right she was pushing Buzz Williams but personally like Kruger better because he is not a Texas fan. If the reaction on this board is any indication, Soonerfans are happy with the pick. She couldn't even get that right. I am happy he wants to come here and the search is over. Sounds like Joe C. has been after him for awhile and wouldn't stop. I think it is a very good hire for OU -- in all his years coaching never once has he had a problem with the NCAA and runs a totally clean program -- that sold me plus he is a winner wherever he has been in college.

Vegas Sooner
4/2/2011, 02:29 AM
Carlson makes everything gross. She likes Dunkin Donuts and has pimples.

She knows crap.... The Ultimate and OKC should just "say" resign. She is a RA-tard

Gandalf_The_Grey
4/2/2011, 04:00 AM
Every time I read a Jenni Carlson article I feel letdown. I mean I know at least 50 women more knowledgeable about athletics and they also have better grasp of the English language. I mean if they had to hire a woman...at least hire one who isn't a tool bag.

swardboy
4/2/2011, 06:40 AM
She gives "journalism" a bad name.

Sooner95
4/2/2011, 07:42 AM
Who uses the word "Meh" when writing an article for the newspaper?

Man, I'm glad i didn't waste 4 years pursuing a journalism degree. Seems they'll let anyone do it.

texaspokieokie
4/2/2011, 07:52 AM
new coach hired & most of thread is "badmouthing" Jenni.
strange

Vegas Sooner
4/2/2011, 09:15 AM
They posted her article out here. What a c***. She needs to go back to Lawrence and get a different degree and get out of Oklahoma.

MichiganSooner
4/2/2011, 11:28 AM
Lon Kruger has not just rebuilt programs successfully, he has rebuilt programs that had been placed on NCAA sanctions successfully.

Jenni says he is an outstanding recruiter. To the contrary, the Tulsa World says he is an average recruiter, at best, especially when it comes to recruiting top-notch big men. He will need to find assistant coaches who are outstanding recruiters. Recruiting was a weakness at UNLV where he relied on junior college transfers and D1 transfers to his team.

GrapevineSooner
4/2/2011, 11:43 AM
Every day, I read Jenni Carlson.

Then I read Jennifer Floyd Engel from the Star Telegram to make myself feel smarter.

LiveLaughLove
4/2/2011, 12:02 PM
Lon Kruger has not just rebuilt programs successfully, he has rebuilt programs that had been placed on NCAA sanctions successfully.

Jenni says he is an outstanding recruiter. To the contrary, the Tulsa World says he is an average recruiter, at best, especially when it comes to recruiting top-notch big men. He will need to find assistant coaches who are outstanding recruiters. Recruiting was a weakness at UNLV where he relied on junior college transfers and D1 transfers to his team.

I dont think it can be said he is a great recruiter. I think it is fair to say he is a great x's and o's guy and a decent to good recruiter.

I'm elated with the hire. Just what we needed for this time and place.

opksooner
4/2/2011, 12:08 PM
She spews more methane gas between her legs than a refinery!

.................

Got a match?

OU_Sooners75
4/2/2011, 12:26 PM
It's Jenni Carlson, why are you all not surprised?

OU_Sooners75
4/2/2011, 12:28 PM
Lon Kruger has not just rebuilt programs successfully, he has rebuilt programs that had been placed on NCAA sanctions successfully.

Jenni says he is an outstanding recruiter. To the contrary, the Tulsa World says he is an average recruiter, at best, especially when it comes to recruiting top-notch big men. He will need to find assistant coaches who are outstanding recruiters. Recruiting was a weakness at UNLV where he relied on junior college transfers and D1 transfers to his team.

Really, is that why the man has won awards for running clean programs?

He may be an average recruiter...so was Bobby Knight. However, he does recruit guys that fit his system very well and that are not afraid of hard work.

If he is successful here and he stays awhile, our graduation rate will go up!

stoopified
4/2/2011, 08:02 PM
I'm too lazy to look it up,was Lon even in the DO 64 coach bracket? As for Jenni,well she isn't a mother of children,so what do you expect?

nighttrain12
4/2/2011, 08:46 PM
Posting anything written by Jenni Carlson is tantamount to intellectual assault.

Especially posting the whole article, every single word. That's called torture though I guess no one forced me to read it.

texaspokieokie
4/3/2011, 07:39 AM
Every day, I read Jenni Carlson.

Then I read Jennifer Floyd Engel from the Star Telegram to make myself feel smarter.

How's that working, so far ???

MichiganSooner
4/3/2011, 08:14 PM
Really, is that why the man has won awards for running clean programs?

He may be an average recruiter...so was Bobby Knight. However, he does recruit guys that fit his system very well and that are not afraid of hard work.

If he is successful here and he stays awhile, our graduation rate will go up!

I don't know what awards he has won...certainly none for running clean programs but the fact is he has gone to programs that were in trouble with the NCAA, cleaned up the mess and won ballgames.

As far as my comment about recruiting, it was not a slam on Lon. He has certainly been successful. I got the information from the Tulsa World; it is not something I just made up out of thin air.

The huge question mark with Kruger is this: Can he recruit?

"No," said sources here for the Final Four who are familiar with Kruger's work at UNLV. "His biggest problem at Vegas was his inability to recruit good big men. Illinois exposed that in the tournament."

Kruger's UNLV team faced Illinois in the second round of the NCAA Tournament three weeks ago at the BOK Center in Tulsa. The No. 8-seeded Rebels lost 73-62 to the No. 9 Illini after trailing by 22 at halftime and 25 in the second half.


Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20110402_202_B1_HUTNOl39197

I wish him much success. I think he is an excellent choice.

XFollower
4/3/2011, 08:24 PM
Jenni who?

SoonerNate
4/6/2011, 12:06 PM
Don't listen to anything she has to say.

This.

Anything she can do to get attention for that awful paper she'll attempt. You can always tell a good journalist from a poor shock jock type. The former doesn't try to become the story.

On a side note, Trammel is a very good columnist though IMO. I log on to newsok.com just to read his comments. I don't waste my time with the others.