Continuity can mean different things within a college basketball program. Mostly, it can be the vehicle by which to build a culture over time.
Consider: San Diego State has had two head coaches (Steve Fisher and Brian Dutcher) the past 24 years, and the latter has been there, first as an assistant, the entire time.
So have some members of the coaching/support staff.
UNLV during that period has had — be it full time or interim — 10 head coaches.
Ten.
The Rebels should not be looking for an 11th any time soon.
Give him time
Kevin Kruger should be given ample time to build such a culture at UNLV, a program that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2013 and has struggled to merely make the semifinals of a Mountain West tournament held in its own arena.
Kruger signed a five-year contract and hasn’t even finished a second season.
Those already banging out Tweets and emails for another change at the top are incredibly shortsighted. It’s not a surprise. This is hardly the most patient of towns or fan bases.
Here’s what needs to be done. The UNLV administration and athletic director Erick Harper should assure Kruger, if they haven’t already, that he will be afforded time to create a winning culture, but that it needs to be done with a long-term vision instead of a quick-fix roster.
Take the time needed to construct something lasting. There will be obvious bumps along the road, but the idea is to come out ahead in the end. It can be done. It has been done in countless places.
UNLV has been active in the transfer portal in each of Kruger’s two seasons. It had 10 new faces last year and eight this one. I get it. You can turn things quickly by hitting on just a few recruits. It is college basketball in 2023. But it doesn’t always work that way.
It has been a slow process thus far for Kruger, who also had to replace all three assistant coaches —who have as much to do with player relationships and culture as anyone — after last season. Each left for more money at Power Five schools. None could be blamed for doing so.
“You don’t have culture unless you have four- and five- and six-year guys,” Dutcher told the San Diego Union-Tribune this week. “(Adam) Seiko, six years. (Nathan) Mensah, five years. (Aguek) Arop, five years. Keshad Johnson, four years. Lamont Butler, three years. These guys have been in the program. They set the culture. The new guys come in and see what it is.”
Things aren’t good right now for the Rebels. UNLV is 16-10 overall but 5-9 and in eighth place in conference. Anything short of finishing fifth means having to win four games in four days to secure the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
Anything short makes it all sorts of difficult.
Not overnight
But this is where continuity comes into play. UNLV is far too athletic within the Mountain West to be sitting in eighth. It might have the league’s best player in senior EJ Harkless. But it just hasn’t discovered near enough consistency, particularly at the defensive end, to make a difference.
So whether it be who’s on the bench coaching or how a team performs over time or the traits by which a program is defined, consistency in message is often paramount to success. Constant change can be disruptive.
Continuity and culture are basically the same thing. It rarely occurs overnight.
“Like I said after the (San Diego State) game, that’s 20 years of culture,” Kruger said of the Aztecs following an 82-71 defeat Saturday. “I think it’s a reminder for us to stay with what we’re doing and what we believe in and to keep working and get better. And then hope there’s a day we’re talking about 20 years ago.”
