OU basketball: Kruger preaching students

Lon Kruger preached students the day he was named OU’s basketball coach. He’s still preaching students. Kruger, addressing Sooner fans in Dallas earlier this month, again said student involvement is critical to a rebirth of Sooner hoops.

“We’ve got to get the students back in Lloyd Noble” Center, Kruger said. “Anytime there’s a great crowd around the country, the cornerstone is the students.”

Kruger has campaigned to student groups on campus, trying to revive interest in a program that has been successful over the years but has staggered the last two seasons.

“It’s an honor for me to join the Sooner team,” Kruger said. “I always thought the Oklahoma brand was very strong, very powerful.  That brand is really, really good. Every team sets a really high bar.

“Oklahoma’s got a very proud tradition. All those great players. Just outstanding tradition.”

Kruger reiterated his desire to hear from fans. He originally set up an email account for fans to write suggestions; now, OU has set up a twitter account (twitter.com/LonKruger).

“Tweet us, twitter us, tweeter us,” Kruger said. “We’ll respond. We want you to take ownership. It’s your program.”

Kruger on a few other subjects:

On style of play: “Guys will play really hard. That’s kind of a given. We’re going to push the ball offensively and attack defensively, try to create offense out of defense. To do that, we’ve gotta rebound the ball.”