Rob Miech

UNLV assistant basketball coach Lew Hill helps coordinate and organize the work weeks of guard Wink Adams, forward Matt Shaw and other Rebels. The 6 p.m. Sunday meetings have become an integral part of veteran coach Lon Kruger’s program.

By Rob Miech

Mon, Nov 17, 2008 (2:15 a.m.)

Rob Miech

Rebels assistant coach Steve Henson gives some guidance to freshman guard Oscar Bellfield during the team's regular Sunday-night meetings. Pockets of players meet with individual assistant coaches, before meeting together in a conference room with coach Lon Kruger. The entire group then shares a team meal in another room in the Thomas & Mack Center.

Once again, UNLV basketball players met with coach Lon Kruger and his assistants Sunday night in the Rebels’ basketball offices.

They perused class assignments and schedules, appointments with tutors and workout routines in small pockets with assistant coaches. They met as a group with Kruger in a conference room.

“The big man comes in to make sure everything’s OK,” said senior forward Rene Rougeau. “We basically feed off him.”

And they hold their breaths.

Sundays with Lon give the players another opportunity to gather and bond, to watch some Sunday Night Football. Last night, they watched Dallas play Washington.

They talked about weekend exploits. Over baked chicken, lasagna and salad, the 1-0 Rebels chatted about playing four games over the next nine days.

There’s always apprehension. If anybody missed a class or did poorly on a test, or missed an assignment during the week, this is when and where they fess up.

If they don’t, after the next practice, the entire team runs stairs inside the Thomas & Mack Center, suicides on the court … or worse.

“Corner slides, they’re the worst,” sophomore guard Kendall Wallace said of a drill in which the Rebels slide, backward and sideways, from one corner of the court to the opposite corner and back.

“You’re already tired,” said junior guard Scott Hoffman. “You don’t want to do that stuff. You shouldn’t.”

Rebels, especially freshmen, learn to come clean.

“If you don’t say it, it’s times three,” Hoffman said. “He finds out, and the punishment is three times worse. You have to speak up, if you miss class or if you’re late to anything.

“He finds out, too.”

If a player keeps repeating a mistake, he eventually finds himself running the Mack stairs solo.

“Distractions,” Kruger called them. So far, this semester, there have been no distractions.

“We just have to keep our focus on basketball,” said senior guard Wink Adams. “Whenever we can do that, we can keep pushing forward. We don’t have to wait for someone who’s messing up.”

Kruger, 56, had been coaching basketball for 30 years when he discovered his system needed some tweaking after his first season in Las Vegas.

That first campaign, a few guys from Southern California bolted back to Los Angeles after classes and practice on Fridays, and games on Saturdays.

They wouldn’t return until Monday mornings. Not only was that dangerous, Kruger figured, but they jeopardized missing Monday classes.

In addition, valuable weekend bonding time was lost because those players were absent.

Kruger wishes he had incorporated Sunday night meetings into his game plan years ago.

“For sure,” he said. “They really have been at the core of our progress, another opportunity to communicate with your guys and have their weeks organized. They know what to expect.

“We ask them questions, how we can help them better identify concerns, academically or otherwise. It’s a great way to start the week.”

Freshman guard Oscar Bellfield and senior forward Joe Darger are in a small group that meets with assistant coach Steve Henson. Adams and Rougeau meet with Kruger lieutenant Lew Hill.

Assistant coaches Greg Grensing and director of basketball operations Mike Shepherd also meet with players.

Kruger detailed the genesis of the Sunday meetings in August, when he spoke for 45 minutes before about 150 business leaders inside the Stan Fulton Building on campus.

Players know they must gather at the basketball offices on Sunday at 6 p.m., from the first week of the school year to the last, regardless of anything else.

“What we do is invest time in them,” Kruger told the group. “We develop their ability to manage their time. We want no surprises during the week.

“When they leave those offices, they know exactly what’s expected of them and what they should expect of themselves all week. They understand the significance of planning and preparing.”

He caught himself, drawing laughs from the room, when he talked about further investing in players, or employees.

“You can pay them more,” Kruger said to the group. “We can’t, but you can.”

The typical Sunday meetings last less than an hour.

“It helps me with life in general,” Rougeau said. “It’s really good for newcomers. I’ve always had a strict schedule, from my parents. But it’s good that coach Kruger sticks by that.”

Adams, a Houston native, had a disorganized first summer in Las Vegas. Sunday night meetings didn’t start until the fall semester.

He tried remembering his schedule, his workout times and classes for summer session, and some of it fell by the wayside.

“I forgot a lot,” Adams said. “It wasn’t written down. Sunday meetings bring chemistry and keeps you organized throughout the week. And when someone messes up, it’s brought up.

“Everyone hopes everyone did what they’re supposed to do.”

Or the Thomas & Mack Center stairs, suicides or horror slides await.