UNLV fired Kevin Kruger this afternoon, bringing an end to his four-year tenure as head basketball coach and, potentially, the Kruger family’s decades-long relationship with UNLV basketball.

The program will now begin searching for its fourth head coach in the last 10 years.

Erick Harper, the UNLV athletic director, announced his decision in a statement.

“While there have been notable achievements during his tenure, there have also been challenges,” Harper said. “We have significant aspirations for our men’s basketball program, both within the Mountain West and on a national level, with the goal of competing in the NCAA Tournament.”  

Kruger had two years remaining on his contract at $800,000 per year. Due to an early-termination clause, UNLV owes him a buyout of $2.35 million for firing him now.

The university will begin a national search, it said. 

“Our expectation is to contend for and win championships. After evaluating the program as a whole, I believe a change is necessary to achieve these goals,” Harper said.

Kruger played at UNLV in 2006-07, joining the program as a grad transfer and averaging 13.5 points and 5.1 assists per game. With Kruger at point guard under his father, then-head coach Lon Kruger, the Scarlet and Gray went 30-7 and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.

He then coached as an assistant at Northern Arizona and Oklahoma before joining T.J. Otzelberger’s first staff at UNLV in 2019. When Otzelberger left for Iowa State after the 2020-21 season, athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois tapped Kruger to succeed him in the head job.

Kruger got four full seasons at the helm but was unable to gain much traction. UNLV went 18-14 in his first year, 19-13 the next year and 21-13 in 2023-24. The team slid back to an 18-15 mark this season, barely finishing above .500 in conference play at 11-9.

UNLV never advanced past the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West tournament under Kruger, and although they made the NIT in 2024 and won two games in that tourney, the Scarlet and Gray were never able to approach the NCAA Tournament bubble under his watch. They were eliminated from this year’s MWC tournament on Thursday with a loss to Utah State in the quarterfinals.

UNLV was beset by injuries to key players this season.

Senior forward Rob Whaley, a projected starter, suffered a back injury in preseason and only managed to give the Scarlet and Gray 23 minutes over the first two games before being sidelined for the rest of the year.

Star sophomore and leading scorer D.J. Thomas injured his shoulder on Feb. 15 and did not play again. And in the regular-season finale, senior guard Julian Rishwain injured his knee and was lost for the Mountain West tournament.

Senior guard Jailen Bedford replaced Rishwain in the starting lineup and then missed a large chunk of Wednesday’s MWC play-in game against Air Force after suffering a cut above his eye. UNLV weathered his absence and won that game, which Kruger attributed to the team’s collective mental toughness.

“Over the last month, it braced the team for adversity,” Kruger said. “When D.J. went out, the guys adjusted really well and had a great defensive game against Colorado State, we just couldn’t score enough.

“Even when Bedford got hurt [on Wednesday], the morale didn’t change. It didn’t shift. It wasn’t ‘Here we go again.’ Guys were ready, they were still locked in.”

During his years as an assistant Kruger built a reputation as a good recruiter, and he landed some notable prospects at UNLV, including Thomas, who was a local star at Liberty in the Class of 2023.

He also added quality veterans via the transfer portal (E.J. Harkless, Luis Rodriguez, Keylan and Kalib Boone, Jalen Hill, Jaden Henley), but the Scarlet and Gray just never seemed to add up to the sum of their parts.

Still, Kruger posted a winning percentage of .580 at UNLV, a better mark than his two predecessors, Marvin Menzies (.500) and Otzelberger (.492).

Lon Kruger was the head coach at UNLV from 2004 to 2011 and brought the program its last real consistent success, including six trips to the NCAA Tournament. Lon was a regular presence at practices the past four years after retiring from Oklahoma and Kevin Kruger often credited him as an unofficial consultant.