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NCAA basketball: Top 25 highest-paid college basketball coaches for 2020

By Cody Williams

Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils talks with John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils talks with John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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College basketball (Photo by David K Purdy/Getty Images) /

21. Lon Kruger, Oklahoma

Salary: $3.3 million | Buyout: $2.925 million

Be it in the college ranks or even the NBA, 67-year-old Lon Kruger has been across the country as a head coach and has enjoyed plenty of success along the way. He’s coached at Texas-Pan American, Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, the Atlanta Hawks and UNLV. After going 161-71 over seven seasons with the Runnin’ Rebels, he was hired by the Oklahoma Sooners.

In the wake of Jeff Capel’s lack of success in Norman, Kruger had a tall task ahead of him in trying to rebuild the Sooners to be a highly competitive program in the Big 12. And he didn’t find immediate success in trying to do so either. He went 15-16 in his first season and finished just eighth in the conference with a 5-13 mark in Big 12 play.

The following season, however, Kruger led the team to a 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament berth. In fact, Oklahoma made it to the Big Dance in the next three seasons as well, concluding with a trip to the Final Four led by star guard Buddy Hield. While there was a dip in success with an 11-20 season the year after, the Sooners made it to the NCAA Tournament the next two years and were likely headed back prior to the tournament being canceled in 2020.

Kruger is 166-106 over his nine years at Oklahoma and, while he may not be the picture of consistency and hasn’t won a Big-12 title either, it’s clear that he’s built something sustainable with the Sooners, which is more than his predecessors could say.