Las Vegas – Some of the Mountain West Conference’s best talent never left the bench last season as transfers.
San Diego State eagerly awaited the eligibility of Louisville’s 6-foot-6 forward Lorrenzo Wade, and New Mexico counted the seconds until Kansas’ J.R. Giddens and Penn State’s Aaron Johnson took off their redshirts.
The biggest impact, however, could come from a UNLV point guard who played for Arizona State last season.
An obscure, new NCAA rule passed last spring allowed student-athletes who had obtained their degrees to transfer for their final year of eligibility without sitting out the usual transfer season.
It was as if the rule was made with Arizona State guard Kevin Kruger in mind. After the Sun Devils changed coaches, he asked his father, UNLV third-year coach Lon Kruger, if he could join the Rebels.
“It’s not like he’s taking any minutes away from another player. We had no point guard minutes returning,” Lon Kruger said Thursday at the conference’s media basketball preview.
The younger Kruger was second nationally in minutes played (39.0) and brings a 15-point scoring average and a 81 percent career free-throw percentage.
“In my opinion, he will be the most important new addition in this league, bar none,” San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said.
The UNLV coach said his son switched one desert climate for another during the summers and worked out with the Rebels.
“He competes hard and he loves to play,” the senior Kruger said. As with most coaches, he rarely saw his son play. The exception was when Arizona State met UNLV in the 2005 NIT.
Honors and polls
Colorado State 7-0 junior center Jason Smith and San Diego State’s Brandon Heath are the only MWC names on the 50-player John Wooden Award watch list.
Heath, the returning player of the year, said because he is from Los Angeles he was moved to have his name on a list with anything bearing Wooden’s name.
Smith and Heath also made the preseason media all-MWC team, and Heath was named the top returning player. Air Force forward Jacob Burtschi, San Diego State forward Mohamed Abukar and BYU sophomore Trent Plaisted joined the list.
Defending champion San Diego State was picked to repeat. In the women’s poll, New Mexico edged BYU and TCU for top honors.
Suspension announced
CSU junior guard Tyler Smith, a longtime friend of Carmelo Anthony’s who was cited for suspicion of possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, will sit out the Rams’ two exhibition games, Tuesday against Regis and Nov. 3 against Concordia-Montreal.
Layer said Smith had done everything outlined by the university and the coaching staff.
“He’s handled everything extremely well,” Layer said. “He’s grown up through the experience.”
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
