New UNLV women’s coach should pick Kruger’s brain

Kathy Olivier was introduced as the new women's basketball coach at UNLV on Tuesday, and she would be smart to immediately learn the office extension of Lon Kruger.

She would be wise to call it often and heed the advice of the person who continues to build a program capable of annual NCAA Tournament berths while also being able to identify the city's toughest par 5s.

It's important for a few reasons.

* As a new coach, it's always good to know where to find the most powerful and influential person in the athletics department, if not the entire campus. (Memo to Olivier: It's not your boss. I'm pretty sure the pecking order goes: 1. Kruger; 2. Elizabeth Linkous, director of basketball operations for women, the only one of the previous staff not to get broomed and one who shouldn't expect a Christmas card from those who did; 3. university president David Ashley).

* It has been proven from the Mountain West Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference and several leagues in between that the success of one basketball program often aids that of another.

"I think I can learn a lot from Lon," Olivier said. "I look forward to going to some of their practices. I'm a basketball junkie. I know he gets guys to buy into a team atmosphere. You ride someone's shirttails. If we can piggyback off what Lon and the men have done the last two years, that's great. I'm into working together."

Kruger has made UNLV basketball matter again nationally, and any recruit Olivier chases has probably known that the last two springs. Prep basketball players -- boys and girls -- watch the NCAA Tournament. Winning programs create interest in all facets of campus life.

What, you thought the number of applications to Gonzaga quadrupled overnight because that many more 18-year-olds suddenly wanted to live in Spokane?

"The relationship between (the men's and women's) programs is so important," said San Diego State women's coach Beth Burns, who in three years has rebuilt what was the league's worst team into one that could win a conference title next season. "No question, it goes hand-in-hand with success. We haven't brought one recruit on campus who didn't first visit with (men's) coach (Steve) Fisher before we signed them.

"I would definitely look at Lon Kruger and his team's success as a huge advantage for Kathy. He would be one of the first people I spoke with. Coaches know each other's problems. They're usually not pink and blue problems. We all have the same ones.

"Kathy is really savvy. She has been out west a long time, and being an alum of UNLV will help her in so many ways there. Kathy won't miss a beat."

But can she win and generate interest in a program that has never drawn more than 4,713 to a regular-season home game -- a program that is an afterthought in a league of really good teams today?

Olivier might have officially resigned her position in March following 15 seasons as UCLA's head coach, but it was a conclusion she was either going to reach or have someone do it for her.

She went 232-208 with the Bruins and was 16-15 this past season, when recruiting success off the court didn't translate into enough victories on it. She simply didn't win at a high enough level for UCLA officials, having been politely moved into an administrative position before the call from her alma mater came.

"(UCLA) was ready to take care of me for life," she said.

Just not as a coach. Which is why she is here.

She owns the passion to improve things only an alum could, having averaged 16.3 points as a junior and 20.2 as a senior for the Rebels from 1979 to 1981. She is energetic. Positive. She knows the school and town and many people in it.

But women's basketball is one thing the Mountain West actually does well, having an RPI (7) that routinely bests that of the Big Ten and having earned four NCAA bids this season. Since the conference was formed nine years ago, four teams have made the Sweet 16, and Utah advanced to the Elite Eight in 2006. It's not the Pac-10, but it's not as far away as some might think.

It's a good thing Olivier wants to work.

"Everyone wants a winner and to be connected with one," she said. "The league is good, man. It's very good ... Give me a challenge, and I will be there to accept it."

Someone give her Lon Kruger's extension.

There is no better place to start.

Ed Graney's column is published Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.