Following another trip to the NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma Coach Lon Kruger, 68, has decided to retire.

OU began an immediate search for a replacement.

“It’s been an honor to serve the University of Oklahoma as its head men’s basketball coach over the last 10 years,” said Kruger. “The people here are certainly amazing and our family is so grateful for the kindness and support expressed by Sooner Nation throughout the past decade. The leadership of Joe Castiglione and President Harroz has established an incredible culture and standard that is better than any coach could have asked for. We have such a deep appreciation for the players, coaches and fans. There truly is ‘Only One Oklahoma’ and it’s a great honor to be a Sooner for life.”

Kruger was an outstanding player at Kansas State University and he had tremendous success as a college coach over a span of more than three decades.

“I’m very happy for Lon to leave on his own terms,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, a rival for the past 10 years. “I wish him nothing but the best in retirement and being around Kevin (Kruger), his family and the grandkids in (Las) Vegas, sounds like to me a pretty good way to spend retirement.

“I had the opportunity to follow Lon at Illinois and saw firsthand what a class program he ran.

“I have enjoyed competing against him at his different stops, but primarily at the University of Oklahoma where his teams were always classy and difficult to prepare for. I know personally the respect he commands in our industry and I’m sure his former players, assistant coaches and everyone affiliated in his programs over time would attest to the way he went about his business.”

Kruger was the first coach to take five different schools to the NCAA Tournament and is the only coach to win an NCAA Tournament game with five programs. He is also the only coach since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to take four programs to the Sweet 16 or beyond.

Kruger concludes his collegiate coaching career with a 674-432 (.609) overall record, including a 195-128 (.604) performance in his 10 years at Oklahoma. Kruger’s 674 Division I wins are the 27th most all-time and were the 10th most among active coaches at the time of his retirement.

Kruger’s teams reached 20 NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 five times and clinching Final Four berths in 1994 (Florida) and 2016 (Oklahoma).

Named the 14th head coach in OU history on April 1, 2011, Kruger was handed the challenging task of turning around a program which had gone 27-36 (.429) in the two seasons prior to his arrival.

Over the next decade, Kruger guided Oklahoma to seven NCAA Tournaments (only missing the Big Dance once since his second season), two Sweet 16s and the 2016 Final Four. His 195 victories are the fourth most by an OU head coach.

Under Kruger, Sooner players earned first-team All-Big 12 selections on six occasions and racked up 32 Academic All-Big 12 honors. Kruger mentored numerous national stars, most notably 2016 National Player of the Year Buddy Hield and 2018 National Freshman of the Year Trae Young. Four Sooners were drafted into the NBA during Kruger’s tenure, and two of them were among the top six picks (Hield and Young).

In addition to his time at Oklahoma, Kruger served as the head coach at Texas-Pan American (1982-86), Kansas State (1986-90), Florida (1990-96), Illinois (1996-2000) and UNLV (2004-11). He also saw a four-year stint in the NBA – three as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks (2000-03) and one as a New York Knicks assistant (2003-04).