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’93-94 Gators bonded in Australia BY MIKE BALDWIN Staff Writer mbaldwin@opubco.com
Team chemistry is a trademark for Lon Kruger teams. Giving him a head start produced the most memorable season of his distinguished career. Months before Florida made an unexpected run to the 1994 Final Four, the Gators played summer exhibition games for two weeks in Australia. “That’s when it all started,” said Craig Brown, a senior guard on the ’94 team. “We really rolled into preseason with some momentum.” Coming off a 16-12 season that ended with a first-round NIT loss, national analysts didn’t forecast big things for the Gators. Bolstered by momentum gained during the summer, Florida started the season 14-2. The Gators finally cracked the national polls in late January. They tied for the SEC East regularseason title and finished as
Lon Kruger to the Florida Gators to the 1994 Final Four. AP PHOTO
the runner-up in the SEC Tournament. “We didn’t have any superstars or McDonald’s All-Americans,” Brown said. “We were just a bunch of guys committed
to playing tough, hard defense. We believed in the coaching staff. After we got back (from Australia), we knew we had a chance to have a special season.” Orlando Magic media
relations director Joel Glass was the basketball sports information director when Kruger was at Florida. “(Kruger) creates a family atmosphere where everyone truly cares about one another on and off the court,” Glass said. “His teams always have great chemistry. They don’t care necessarily how many points they score. They care about winning. ... That year it started during the trip to Australia.” Bill Koss, who has been involved in Florida basketball for nearly 40 years, helped write a book on the history of the program. When Kruger told him on the Australia trip he really liked the makeup of the team, Koss took it seriously. “I learned if Lon tells you something, you can take it to the bank,” Koss said. “He knows what he’s talking about. Craig Brown and Andrew DeClercq were really the glue to that team. You could tell on that trip that team was already starting to bond.”
Kruger: Faced obstacles in Florida FROM PAGE 1C
ways told us things would get better.” Kruger’s first Florida team finished 11-17. The next two teams went to the NIT. The fourth season — a Final Four season — was magical. “Lon brought incredible credibility to a school where football has always dominated,” said Bill Koss, who has been involved with Florida basketball for more than 40 years. “There’s no question it’s a football school. It always will be. But Lon was the first to really connect people with basketball.” Koss played at Florida and was a radio and television analyst for decades. To fully appreciate the 1994 Final Four season, Koss said outsiders must be educated on the program’s first 75 years, which he helped chronicle in a book: “Pond Birds, the history of Florida basketball.” “Pond birds” is a term football coach Steve Spurrier used to describe tall, lanky basketball players. The Gators never played in the NCAA Tournament until 1987. Sloan took the
Gators to their only three NCAA Tournament appearances at the time in the late 1980s. Sloan compiled 235 wins during two different stints at Florida, but he also put the program in a deep hole. An NCAA investigation placed the basketball program on two years probation for extra benefits, recruiting, transportation and unethical violations. Don DeVoe spent four years trying to revive the program but failed, compiling a 53-64 record. “When coach Kruger arrived the program was in disarray,” said Jeff Guin, a student manager at Florida who later joined Kruger’s Illinois staff. “It wasn’t just wins and losses. It was NCAA issues. Few people came to games. No one really cared.” Koss said that’s where Kruger’s impact went beyond the Final Four season. Kruger was involved in the community. He spoke to students. He embraced Gator nation’s love for football. “More than any coach I’ve ever been around Lon makes everyone feel part of the program,” Koss said. “He made Florida basket-
ball fun.” As attendance improved, Kruger spent the next four years molding unheralded recruits and producing a team in 199394 that would set a thenschool record of 29 wins. Brown was a starting guard on that team and said players were prepared for every possible situation. “Coach Kruger was always designing plays, coming up with new wrinkles to give us an advantage,” Brown said. “He was always tweaking things. He’d come up with unique things during a game and had the ability to communicate that with his players. “But it’s also was the way he treats people. That’s why we had such great chemistry. He was a door-is-always-open coach right from the start. He stressed doing things the right way. He wasn’t a yeller. He wouldn’t belittle you. But he got his point across.” Brown learned that lesson when he tried to dribble between his legs, the ball caroming off his leg out of bounds. “He stopped practice
and said, ‘Keep it basic. That’s not what we do,’ ” Brown said. “I got the message. He rewarded guys who did things the right way. And he wasn’t just about today. He was about making a difference after we were done playing.” Only two of Kruger’s six Florida teams played in the NCAA Tournament, but he still owns the second best winning percentage in school history behind Billy Donovan. Kruger’s impact at Florida is overshadowed by Donovan’s success the past 15 years. Donovan has won 360 games, made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and won back-to-back national championships along with three Final Four trips. But if it wasn’t for Kruger, who knows where Florida basketball would be today? “(Rick) Pitino told Billy, ‘Absolutely do not take that job. It’s a football school,’ ” Koss said. “Billy has told me several times he would not have taken the job if Lon hadn’t accomplished what he accomplished.”
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There’s trouble brewing in the Pac-12 BY JON WILNER San Jose Mercury News
The inaugural Pac-12 football season could end up making the wrong kind of headlines. We already know that USC, a favorite in the South Division, will be home for the holidays because of NCAA sanctions. Now Oregon, a frontrunner in the North along with Stanford, is sliding toward the NCAA doghouse because of its relationship with a Houstonbased man who might be a scout ... or a booster ... or a street agent. However he is ultimately defined by the NCAA, Will Lyles is a problem for Oregon and, by extension, the Pac-12. Lyles first made headlines in March, when Yahoo! reported that he received $25,000 from Oregon for scouting services — well above the standard fee — and the NCAA launched an inquiry into his relationship with the school. Three months later, in response to a public records request, Oregon released information pertaining to Lyles and his company, Complete Scouting Services. Included was a document titled “2011 National Package.” One problem: The report didn’t include any prospects from the class of
Oregon coach Chip Kelly is under fire for his school’s relationship with Will Lyles. AP PHOTO
2011. That raised an immediate and unsettling question: If not for information about 2011 recruits, what did Oregon pay for? The NCAA permits schools to pay football scouting services for information on prospects, and Lyles told Yahoo! that he had business relationships with two other schools: One is Louisiana State; the other is Cal, which, he said, paid his company $5,000 for information on players in Texas. (Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour and football coach Jeff Tedford were on vacation and unavailable for comment, school spokesman Herb Benenson said. Benenson also said, to his knowledge, the NCAA has not inquired about Cal’s relationship with Lyles.)
The trouble comes when schools pay for more than information, and July 1, in a Yahoo! report, Lyles accused Oregon of doing just that. He said Oregon paid for “my access and influence with recruits” — in particular, with Lache Seastrunk, a coveted tailback from Temple, Texas. Seastrunk signed with Oregon and is on the Ducks’ current roster, the No. 2 tailback to Heisman Trophy candidate LaMichael James. Lyles also said Oregon coach Chip Kelly personally approved the $25,000 check in early 2010, but it wasn’t until 11months later — just before the Yahoo! story broke — that Kelly asked for scouting documents to justify the payment. Oregon officials won’t
comment on the specifics of the case but have said since March that they believe they abided by the rules. The final word rests with the NCAA, which must determine whether Lyles acted as an impartial scout or as an Oregon booster. He told Yahoo! that Oregon never made a direct request (or payment) for him to steer recruits to Eugene. The other issue involves Kelly. We don’t know what he told NCAA investigators. But if he was not forthcoming, the consequences could be severe. Lyles and Oregon are both treading in a gray area: The NCAA rule book is just beginning to catch up to 21st century issues such as paid scouts who may, in fact, serve as boosters or street agents. The Ducks could escape with the equivalent of a slap on the wrist — with Kelly’s job safe and no offfield issues blocking their pursuit of the national championship. (Oregon, like Stanford, will be a top-10 team when the preseason polls are released next month.) But there is also a chance that Kelly will lose his job and the program will suffer scholarship reductions and a bowl ban — just like USC. McClatchy-Tribune News Service
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2011
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Leach tells his side of firing Former Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach on Tuesday offered up fresh details on what he says was happening behind the scenes around the time he was fired. In excerpts from his book, “Swing Your Sword,” Leach said emails “suggest” there was never a university investigation into allegations he mistreated a player, Adam James, with a concussion but rather “an effort to sell me down the river.” He also claims a public relations firm, Spaeth Communications, was used by the university to “smear” Leach’s name. Former Texas Tech coach “They knew the facts Mike Leach has written a weren’t on their side so they used Spaeth to spread new book, called ‘Swing Your Sword,’ that offers misinformation and try to details on his firing. turn public opinion,” an AP PHOTO excerpt says. The university fired Leach in December 2009 amid claims that he mistreated James, son of Craig James, an ESPN analyst. Leach has long denied that, and said he believes an $800,000 bonus he was due was the reason he was fired.
CIVIL SUIT FILED BY EX-PENN STATE RB THROWN OUT A federal judge has dismissed former Penn State running back Austin Scott’s civil lawsuit against the university, police and a female acquaintance over a rape charge against him that was later dropped. No evidence supported Scott’s accusation that the woman, the school, police and prosecutors conspired against him, U.S. District Judge William Caldwell in Harrisburg, Pa., said in Monday’s ruling. Caldwell ruled there was probable cause to arrest Scott in October 2007. Prosecutors withdrew the charges in 2008, and Scott filed the civil suit the following year.
WVU LINEBACKER FREE ON BOND West Virginia University linebacker Branko Busick is free on $25,000 bond after being charged with an armed robbery at a Morgantown, W.Va., apartment building. Morgantown police say the 20-year-old Steubenville, Ohio, native was arrested Monday evening. He was arraigned Tuesday before Monongalia County Magistrate Hershel Mullins in a videoconference with the North Central Regional Jail. His preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 1 before Magistrate Jim Nabors. Police say a man reported that he was struck repeatedly with a gun after he told his assailant he had no money.
BYU’S MENDENHALL HAS NEW DEAL BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall has received a three-year contract extension, keeping him with the Cougars through 2013. Mendenhall said at BYU’s media day that he got his new contract after last season ended. FROM WIRE REPORTS