New OU Sooners head basketball Coach Lon Kruger is already making his impact felt on the OU campus even without having one player dribble one basketball or even score one point. Kruger met recently with fraternity and sorority leaders on campus in an effort to heighten the fan appeal and get more students involved with his recently acquired Sooners basketball program.
Kruger sparked dialogue to cut the cost of a student season ticket in half, understanding and acknowledging that the current state of the economy, where the skyrocketing price of tuition and expenses, the cost of gasoline, and the price of food at the supermarket, is undoubtedly far more of a priority and a challenge for students, than attending a leisurely sporting event such as college basketball.
But what this also showed is that Lon Kruger is already making a profound connection with the student body at OU. Kruger has shown that he is not only going to be a good basketball coach, but he is also going to be a great ambassador for the entire university, having the best interests of the students and fans as a top priority.
Former Sooners coach Jeff Capel enabled last year's students to get into the bad weather games for free, and this showed compassion for the fans, but it still wasn't enough, and he still didn't seem to have the overall connection with students that Lon Kruger is already establishing.
Games at Lloyd Noble Center didn't seem to have the same zeal and excitement that former coaches like Billy Tubbs and even Calvin Sampson had brought to Norman in prior years. Some say this is what inevitably led to Capel's demise as the men’s basketball coach at OU. So as Jeff Capel exits Stage Left, here comes Lon Kruger.
Perhaps Kruger is on a mission to create the type of excitement at Lloyd Noble Center that rivals the worst place for a visiting team to play basketball in, and this is exactly what OU needs in order to get on the same level as venues such as Kansas, Duke, Michigan St., Maryland, and Oregon. These schools have some of the best programs in the nation and it all hinges upon fan support.
With Phog Allen Fieldhouse and the home of the Kansas Jayhawks already considered to be one of the worst places for an opposing team to play in, and as having one of the best atmospheres for their fans to watch basketball in, Kruger understands this, and knows that this had better happen very quickly at OU.
Making the Lloyd Noble Center game atmosphere comparable to Phog Allen Fieldhouse, will be a acheivable milestone for Lon Kruger, and he knows this first hand having coached at the Jayhawks' bitter rival, Kansas St.
Basketball is fast paced, exciting, and one of the best spectator sports bar none, but the excitement of adoring and loyal fans, and a winning-tradition will usually create an atmosphere second to none in all of sports.
Lon Kruger is smart enough to know and covet this, and where he came from (The Thomas and Mack Arena) the great tradition at UNLV, already had a reputation for being one of the toughest places to play, and he was able to keep that tradition in tact.
Sooner fans are already seeing him start to bring the very same thing to Norman, and can't wait until the season starts so that they can show him their support in an effort to get OU basketball back on top again, and winning consistently and competing for the Big 12 Conference Championship every year from here on out.
I'm just saying.
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