Former UNLV head coach Kevin Kruger has been added to Brad Underwood’s coaching staff at Illinois in a position that has not been filled since Zach Hamer was promoted nearly two full seasons ago.

July 9, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — For the first time since he was a teenage student at Centennial High School, Kevin Kruger is returning to Champaign-Urbana.

Illinois men’s basketball head coach Brad Underwood announced Wednesday Kruger, who is obviously the son of former Illini head coach Lon Kruger, will be added to the current Illinois coaching staff in a ‘Assistant to the Head Coach’ position that has stood vacant for several years.

“When the opportunity arose to add a basketball mind and a person the caliber of Kevin Kruger to our staff, it was a no-brainer," Underwood said in a university release. "Kevin is a proven winner who has worked tirelessly throughout his career to elevate every program that he has been a part of. His experience level – not only as a player and assistant coach, but as the head coach – will be invaluable to our team. I'm so excited to welcome Kevin back to Illinois.”

Kruger, who turned 42 years old on May 1, returns to Champaign, where he lived for four years and played two seasons at Centennial High School while his father, a 2022 College Basketball Hall of Fame selection, served as head coach of the Illini program from 1996-2000.

“I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join the Fighting Illini staff and come back to a place that is so special to me and my family,” Kruger said in the school’s media release. "The program that Coach Underwood and his staff have built here is first class in every way. To be in a position to contend year-in and year-out at the highest level of our sport is so special, and I am so fortunate in this role to be able to contribute to the success of the program moving forward."

The ‘assistant to the head coach’ position has not been filled since Zach Hamer was promoted from within that spot to an assistant coaching position on Underwood’s bench prior to the start of the 2023-24 season. Underwood previously announced the acquisition of former Colgate assistant coach Camryn Crocker to his bench as an assistant coach and what Underwood called ‘a defensive coordinator’ role for the upcoming season.

IlliniGuys.com have reached out for clarification but it is currently unclear whether Kruger will be in Champaign-Urbana full-time for this particular assistant with the Illini or if it is a similar role to Bielema had for former Wisconsin head coach Jim Leonhard, who is now defensive pass game coordinator and assistant head coach for the Denver Broncos under head coach Sean Payton. Kruger and his wife Allison Gerding have three children all no older than the age of 6. They have to daughters Cameron (6) and Vivienne (3), and a son, Maxwell (1).

Kruger spent the last six seasons (2019-25) at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas where he served as an assistant coach under T.J. Otzelberger before being elevated to head coach prior to 2020-21. During his tenure at the helm of the Runnin' Rebels program, he guided the team to four consecutive winning seasons and posted an overall record of 76-55 (.581). Kruger's time as UNLV head coach was highlighted by a 21-win season and a run to the quarterfinals of the 2024 National Invitational Tournament, which marked the Rebels' first postseason appearance in 11 years and the program's first postseason wins in 16 seasons.

Prior to UNLV, Kruger spent three seasons (2016-19) as an assistant coach on his father's staff at Oklahoma, where he helped the Sooners to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019. Kruger began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at OU in 2013-14, followed by a two-year stint (2014-16) as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona, where he helped the Lumberjacks to a 23-win campaign and a runner-up finish in the 2015 CIT.

Kruger played three seasons at Arizona State (2003-06) before transferring to UNLV to play his final season for his father. He led the 2006-07 UNLV squad to 30 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance as a third-team All-Mountain West selection and a member of the Mountain West Conference All-Tournament team. The 2006-07 UNLV team won its first two NCAA Tournament games as a 7-seed over Georgia Tech and Wisconsin inside the United Center in Chicago.

Kruger had professional basketball stints in Bulgaria, Italy, China, Mexico, Belgium, and Germany, in addition to NBA training camp invitations from the Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks. He also played with the Utah Flash and Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League before launching his coaching career.