Former UNLV guard Kevin Kruger has signed a one-year contract to play with the Original Marines Napoli, one of 16 teams in Italy’s top division (Serie A) of professional basketball.

Kruger made the announcement on his Facebook page this afternoon. The team’s website also ran a story on Kruger’s signing as did eurobasket.com.

The popular Kruger, the son of UNLV head coach Lon Kruger, helped lead the Runnin’ Rebels to a Mountain West Conference Tournament championship and Sweet 16 berth in 2007. He most recently played with the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League last spring where he averaged 13 points in 24 games.

The Original Marines roster also features former Utah forward Lance Allred and former Clemson star Terrance Oglesby. The team’s website lists “Jellybean” Joe Bryant, father of Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, as its head coach.

Hard core UNLV sports fans who aren’t quite hard core enough to make the long four hour drive north to Ely for Saturday morning’s big football scrimmage have another excellent option for some entertainment that afternoon.

Popular Runnin’ Rebels head basketball coach Lon Kruger will be at Findlay Toyota at 7733 Eastgate Road in the Valley Auto Mall in Henderson to talk with fans and also sign copies of his hot-selling book, “The Xs and Os of Success: A Playbook for Leaders in Business and Life” that he co-authored with D.J. Allen.

Kruger is scheduled to be at Findlay Toyota from 1 to 3 p.m. If you’re lucky, you may also bump into former UCLA All-American and 1995 Final Four MVP Ed O’Bannon who is the sales and marketing manager for Findlay Toyota.

Not a bad doubleheader for autograph hounds. And you won’t find too nicer or classier guys in sports than these two.

I remember covering O’Bannon’s press conference announcing his college choice of UNLV (over UCLA and USC among others) back in 1990 at Artesia High while working for the old National Sports Daily. Hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago. Ed, who later switched to the Bruins when the NCAA came snooping on Jerry Tarkanian’s program, still looks like he could suit up and dominate for the Bruins. Me? Well, three kids and too many bowls of ice cream have definitely taken their toll.:)

There has always been a pretty good debate among Runnin’ Rebel basketball fans about who was the greatest point guard in school history, Greg Anthony, who quarterbacked UNLV to the 1990 national championship, or Robert Smith, who helped lead the Rebels to their first Final Four in 1977?

Now we’ll also get to decide which one is the better announcer.

UNLV announced today that Smith has been named as the school’s new basketball radio analyst replacing his former “Hardway Eight” teammate, the late Glen “Gondo” Gondrezick, who served in the position for 17 years before passing away in April from heart failure. He’ll join Jon Sandler, who returns for his sixth season as the lead play-by-play voice for the Runnin’ Rebels, on the broadcast team.

Smith, who was inducted into the Southern Nevada Hall of Fame in June and has recently been coaching at the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club, still is the school’s career leader in free throw percentage (87.8 percent) and also holds the mark (92.5 percent) for a single-season.

“Robert was a terrific player for the Runnin’ Rebels,” UNLV head coach Lon Kruger said in a school release. “He has a passion for his school and it is great to have him on board in an official capacity as part of our broadcast team.”

Anthony is currently the lead studio college basketball analyst for CBS after a brilliant start to his broadcasting career as an NBA analyst for ESPN, so Smith has a very high standard to meet if he wants to go down as school’s top broadcaster.

“It is great to be coming back to be a part of the team,” Smith said. “It is very exciting for me as a former student-athlete to be involved with UNLV. I always felt a part of the program, but now I will get to work that much closer with the team and I am thrilled to be part of the university again. I am looking forward to getting started.”

UNLV released it men’s 2009-10 Mountain West Conference basketball schedule on late Friday afternoon. And you probably couldn’t have planned a tougher start to league play for Lon Kruger’s squad if you had tried.

The Runnin’ Rebels open with back-to-back road games at BYU and New Mexico, arguably the two toughest places to play on the road in the Mountain West, if not the entire west coast. Five of UNLV’s first eight games are away from the Thomas & Mack Center.

“We open with a couple of tough road games, but everyone plays everyone twice, so it will even out,” Kruger said.

The Rebels open MWC play in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 6. They travel to Albuquerque to play Steve Alford’s Lobos in The Pit three nights later on Jan. 9.

UNLV’s league home opener will be against San Diego State on either Tuesday Jan. 12 or Wednesday Jan. 13 depending on which television network picks up the contest.

Here’s a link to the complete 2009-10 Runnin’ Rebels schedule.

http://tinyurl.com/nqw8fd

Kori Babineaux, left, with older brother Brandon.

Brandon Babineaux is one of four talented freshman wide receivers who will be reporting to their first fall camp at UNLV next week. But the rangy 6-foot-3, 190-pounder from Folsom (Calif.) High School was busy playing cheerleader this past weekend.

That’s because his younger brother, Kori, was in town starring for the Nor-Cal Pharaohs in the Reebok Summer Championships basketball tournament.

Kori Babineaux is regarded as one of the top 75 prospects in the Class of 2011 after earning All Star honors at the prestigious Reebok All-American Camp in Philadelphia earlier this month, one of just 11 juniors-to-be to receive that honor.

Schools like Stanford, Cal, LSU and Oregon State are among those already heavily recruiting Kori Babineaux. Count UNLV, which had assistant coaches Mike Shepherd and Greg Grensing both on hand at the game I attended Saturday afternoon at Coronado High School, as also being in the mix.

Seems the Babineaux family took in UNLV’s impressive 79-62 victory over Arizona at the Thomas & Mack Center last December during Brandon’s recruiting trip and came away very impressed with Lon Kruger’s program.

“My brother is always telling me fun facts about the basketball team … trying to persuade me (to attend UNLV),” Kori Babineaux said with a smile shortly after pumping in four second half 3-pointers in a 81-54 win over 707’s Finest. “It’s too early to say right now where I’m going to go to college but UNLV is definitely up there on my list.”

Kori Babineaux, who also plays wide receiver for the Folsom football team, is already 6-foot-3 and weighs 198 solid pounds. In the game I watched he appeared to be an excellent catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter with good basketball instincts, especially when it came to passing the ball. He’s also young (15-years-old) for a junior.

“He sees the floor really well,” Nor-Cal Pharaohs coach Jason Barton, who played college basketball at Chico State, said. “He’s a great point guard with the ability to score. He can get to the hole, is a great defender, is very long and has a great body. He can play point guard or two-guard, whatever we need. He’s also a good student and a great kid from a great family.”

Kori Babineaux said that the fact his brother Brandon is already a Rebel is a plus for UNLV when it comes to his recruiting. Another brother, Chase, is a wide receiver at American River College in Sacramento who also is eyeing UNLV, so it’s possible there could three Babineaux’s on campus one day.

“I’m hearing from a lot of Pac-10 schools basically but UNLV would definitely be great because I would be able to hang out with my brother some more,” Kori said. “UNLV would be a good fit. … I might be a Rebel in the future. (Brandon) going there probably helps out in that regard.”

Stay tuned.

UNLV basketball recruit Henry Buckley

It would be fair to say that more than a few Runnin’ Rebel basketball fans were left scratching their heads in May when UNLV head coach Lon Kruger announced the signing of 6-foot-10, 200-pound center Henry Buckley.

“Henry Who?” was a common response I heard, and for good reason. Buckley, who has really only played two years of competitive high school basketball and has not gone on the reputation-building national summer camp circuit, is your classic definition of a late bloomer. Few recruiting analysts outside of his hometown of Houston had even heard of him, and I couldn’t find one interview with him after Googling his name.

But after watching Buckley play twice for the Houston Hoopsters Elite in the Reebok Summer Championships on Saturday afternoon and evening at Foothill High School, I came away with this opinion on Buckley: he’s a perfect fit for Lon Kruger.

Buckley is athletically gifted, plays hard, enjoys playing defense and is smart enough to know he still has a long ways to go to play professionally one day. And despite giving up 40 to 50 pounds in the post in the two games I saw, he showed good toughness and wasn’t intimidated.

In his first game Saturday, Buckley got up and down the floor quicker than most of the guards and had three blocked shots, altered two more, forced a travel with a baseline trap, and grabbed two rebounds. And that was all in the first five minutes as Houston Hoopsters Elite jumped out to a 14-2 lead en route to an eventual 54-36 victory over the Texas Bluechips Navy.

Buckley finished the game with four points, both on offensive rebounds, eight blocks, six rebounds and by my count altered at least nine more shots. He was a very quick leaper who also displayed a nice jump-hook and had good rotation on his free throws and jumpers. In other words, he has all the tools to be an impact player for the Runnin’ Rebels if he’s willing to continue to work hard beginning this fall in prep school (Buckley will enroll at UNLV in the fall of 2010).

I sat with a longtime college assistant coach that I respect with strong Mountain West Conference and Pac-10 ties who recruits the Houston area heavily. He has watched Buckley play several times this spring and summer and echoed my sentiments on Buckley eventually being a good fit for the Rebels.

“With a year of prep school, he’ll be good,” the coach agreed. “He already is very lively, blocks shots, runs the floor well and has great hands. No, he’ll be good (at UNLV).”

“He’s a late bloomer which is why the ceiling is so high for him,” Houston Hoopsters Elite coach Keith White, whose program has produced over 40 Division I players, said. “He’s still got a lot to learn but he’s willing to put that work in. He’s only in his second year in our program. He runs the floor well and is a great shot blocker. His potential is unlimited. And he’s a good kid.”

When I interviewed the soft-spoken Buckley afterward, he usually began his replies with “yes sir” and “no sir.”

I asked him if Kruger’s track record for helping develop “sleepers” like Joel Anthony and Lou Amundson into current NBA players played a role in his decision to pick UNLV over schools like Auburn, Tulsa and Stephen F. Austin?

“Yes, it was a factor,” Buckley said. “But really the main thing is when I went on my visit here, it was fun, the campus was pretty nice, and (assistant) Coach (Lew) Hill was really cool. That really helped me make my decision.”

Unlike some highly-touted prep big man recruits (hello Beas Hamga), Buckley knows he’s got a lot of work to do if he is going to hopefully one day join Anthony and Amundson in the NBA.

“Strength and getting more rebounds,” Buckley said when asked what areas of his game he needs to work on. “That’s my game … blocking shots, rebounding and running the floor. That’s what I’m going to work on in prep school next year.”

How hard Buckley works in the weight room will definitely be the key. Right now he’s a raw Joel Anthony in a Chace Stanback body.

“With any big man you have to talk development,” White said. “It’s a long process with these guys and you have to be patient. I think that’s what UNLV is going to give him … the patience and the extra work to get better. You look at him in a couple of years and he’ll have an extra 20 to 25 pounds on him, and the way he can get up and down the floor, he’s going to be a valuable player for UNLV.”

The bad news for Runnin’ Rebel fans who didn’t get to see Buckley play this week is that his team was eliminated Saturday night by the Donyell (Marshall) I team, 78-70, on Saturday night. By my count, Buckley had three points, five rebounds and three blocks as the Donyell Marshall squad, which actually featured the former UConn and NBA star coaching intensely on the bench, wisely pulled Buckley away from the basket with a center who patrolled the 3-point line most of the night.

“Everything has been going pretty good for me here,” Buckley said before the loss. “I’ve been playing every game and I’m even starting to get used to the hot weather here. I’m looking forward to playing here.”

Add UNLV head basketball coach Lon Kruger to the millions who are now using the social network called Twitter. And with the dog days of summer upon us — my car thermometer read 119 degrees when I left Kruger’s office at the Thomas & Mack Center this afternoon — the timing couldn’t be better.

I mean, what else is there to do on a brutally hot July day than to keep track of the daily activities of Las Vegas’ favorite head coach on your computer or cell phone?

If you were one of Kruger’s followers today (www.twitter.com/LonKruger), you would have learned that Lon had spent part of his morning chatting with New Jersey Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe, who is in town for the NBA Summer League currently taking place at the Cox Pavilion. Or you might have learned that Kruger had spent Saturday on the road with assistant coach Lew Hill evaluating recruits.

Kruger also has “tweets” about former players like Wink Adams and son Kevin, who is busy playing (and doing pretty good) for the Utah Jazz in the NBA summer league in Orlando, as well as upcoming basketball events.

Kruger rolled out his new Twitter site last Thursday exactly 100 days before the start of October basketball practice. As of this afternoon, he already had put up 18 items and had 252 official followers getting his content. I’m guessing you’ll be able to put a zero at the end of that last figure in another month or two.

“It’s the way young people are communicating,” the 56-year-old Kruger said. “I say young people when it relates to recruiting. It’s important that they go on and get information as it relates to what is happening here. It’s a way also to promote other things that are good that are happening in the community. It’s a fun thing to do.”

Recruitaholics will be disappointed, however, if they check in hoping to find out what players the Rebels are recruiting or watching the next couple of weeks during the busy July evaluation period. It would be an NCAA violation for Kruger to comment about a prospective student-athlete on his Twitter page just like it would be if he were to comment to a newspaper reporter about it.

“Even in the item about recruiting with Lew Hill I didn’t say where we were,” Kruger said. “Even that could be a gray area. We can’t say who we are watching. We’ve got to be careful that way with anything that might be questionable with the (NCAA) rules.”

Still, it’s a fun way to beat the heat and keep up to date on the Runnin’ Rebels at the same time.

Also, check out our new Rebel Nation site on Twitter which started up this morning. It can be found at www.Twitter.com/UNLVRebelNation.

Noel Johnson of Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, Ga., regarded as one of the top wing scorers in the Class of 2009, picked Clemson over UNLV, LSU, Georgia Tech and UNC-Charlotte on Friday.

Johnson, rated the No. 56 prospect in the nation by Scout.com, originally signed to play at USC but was was later granted a release from his national letter of intent after the school became the target of an NCAA investigation over allegations former head coach Tim Floyd had given money and other improper benefits to former star guard O.J. Mayo.

Johnson took an official recruiting trip to UNLV on June 5-7. He eventually picked Clemson over LSU.

“It just seemed like the best choice for me,” Johnson said of Clemson to Scout.com. “It’s close to home and the academics are good and I like coach (Oliver) Purnell. He had a big influence on me.”

UNLV hopes of landing one of the nation’s top shooting wings at the recruiting buzzer came to an end on Thursday.

Noel Johnson (6-7, 200) of Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, Ga., rated the nation’s No. 56 prospect for the Class of 2009 by Scout.com, will decide Friday night between Clemson and LSU according to his father Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson.

Noel Johnson originally signed a letter of intent to attend USC but later was granted his release in the wake of the O.J. Mayo recruiting firestorm that resulted in Trojan head coach Tim Floyd’s resignation. He visited UNLV on the weekend of June 5th-7th.

Johnson returned from an unofficial trip to Clemson on Thursday.

“It went really well,” his father told CUTigers.com. “It really did. Noel is down to two schools right now, Clemson and LSU. We spent a long time with (Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell) and that all went good.”

Johnson averaged 28 points and nine rebounds as a senior.

It appears it will be another week before blue chip shooting guard Noel Johnson makes his new college choice.

The 6-foot-7 Johnson, who originally signed a letter of intent to attend USC but later was granted his release in the wake of the O.J. Majo recruiting firestorm, visited UNLV over the weekend with his mother after taking an unofficial recruiting trip to North Carolina-Charlotte. His father, Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson, told Scout.com on Monday that his son will also take an official recruiting trip to Xavier starting on Wednesday. Xavier associate head coach Pat Kelsey previously recruited Johnson heavily when he was an assistant at Wake Forest.

“Cheese” Johnson, a longtime friend of Runnin’ Rebel assistant Lew Hill, told Scout.com that LSU and UConn also likely will receive recruiting visits and that Indiana is still in the running.

Johnson, who prepped at Fayette County High School in Fayetteville, Ga., was rated the nation’s No. 56 overall prospect in the Class of 2009 by Scout and is considered one of the nation’s top perimeter shooters.

“Cheese” Johnson said his son could make a decision in as early as seven days.

“We want to have everything done within a week, so where he picks he can get enrolled in summer school,” he told Scout.com.

Because the spring national letter of intent signing period ended in mid-May, Johnson will not sign another letter of intent this time around. His final decision will be made official when he actually enrolls in his new school of choice. Until then, schools recruiting Noel Johnson can not comment on his recruitment per NCAA rules.

“Cheese” Johnson said both the UNC Charlotte and UNLV visits “were very good.”

If Lon Kruger’s UNLV basketball team can make as much progress as his annual Coaches vs. Cancer event did this year, Runnin’ Rebel basketball fans might want to think about making plans to attend the Final Four. Or at least the Sweet Sixteen.

Despite dealing with the effects of a brutal economic recession, Kruger still managed to raise $150,000 for the American Cancer Society with the combination of his “Party at the Palms” on Sunday night at the Hardwood Suites at the Palms Casino Resort, and his two-day golf tournament at Southern Highlands and TPC Las Vegas on Monday and Tuesday.

“It went really well,” Melissa Stemmle, director of distinguished events for the American Cancer Society, said. “To make more money than we did a year ago in this economy really says a lot.”

This is the second year that Kruger has put on the event. Because of fewer expenses and better attendance at the Party at the Palms, the affair netted about $25,000 more than in its first year.

“We had a lot more people who wanted to donate this year,” Stemmle said.

That included TPC Las Vegas which donated the use of its course for the second day of golf.

“That was huge,” Stemmle said.

The Party at the Palms on Sunday night, which cost $100 per person, also sold 150 more tickets than in the inaugural year according to Stemmle.

Good news for basketball fans in the Mountain West Conference.

The prospect of spending a week in chilly Laramie or Provo in early March while rooting their team on in the annual conference basketball tournament was quietly shot down by Mountain West Conference presidents at their annual spring meeting in Denver that concluded on Monday.

The Mountain West Conference Board of Directors voted to keep both the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments at the Thomas & Mack Center through 2013. The league’s current deal with the Thomas & Mack had been set to expire after the 2010 tourney.

The Board, which is comprised of the Presidents of the nine MWC institutions, considered other options for the tournament including rotating it annually among multiple sites as well as holding the event at a neutral site. According to a press release issued the Mountain West Conference on Tuesday afternoon, “the Board also reviewed revenue implications and data compiled from extensive fan research. After further deliberation, a majority of the Board voted to award the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas the 2011-13 Mountain West Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.”

New Mexico men’s coach Steve Alford has been outspoken in the past about moving the MWC Tournament to a neutral site because he felt it was an unfair advantage for UNLV to play the tourney on its home floor. The winner of the MWC Tournament garners an automatic bid the NCAA Tournament. The Runnin’ Rebels won the MWC Tourney in both 2007 and 2008 but lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runnerup San Diego State in 2009.

The MWC tried holding the tournament at a neutral site at Denver’s Pepsi Center in 2004-2006 but experienced very poor attendance. The conference then moved the tourney back to Las Vegas in 2007 where it has remained since with record turnouts.

Guard Noel Johnson (6-7, 180) of Fayette County (Ga.) High School, rated the No. 56 prospect in the Class of 2009 by Scout.com, has scheduled a recruiting trip to UNLV this weekend.

Johnson originally signed with USC but was recently granted his release from a letter of intent by the Trojans as the school braces for the fallout from accusations that head coach Tim Floyd gave cash to former star guard O.J. Mayo through one of his handlers.

“Any time you have a kid that is starting his freshman year, you want him to go into a calmer setting rather than having a cloud over (his) head,” Noel’s father, Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson, recently told Scout.com. “(USC) was his No. 1 choice because he liked the school, coach Floyd and (assistant) coach (Bob) Cantu. But the fact remains that you can’t move that cloud.”

Johnson, rated the No. 13 shooting guard by Scout.com, is also considering LSU, Georgia Tech, UNC-Charlotte and Wichita State, where his father starred in college. “Cheese” Johnson and Rebel assistant Lew Hill, also a Wichita State alum, are longtime friends.

Noel Johnson, regarded as one of the top 3-point shooters in the Class of 2009, would be eligible to compete this fall at whatever school he enrolls at. He is expected to make his decision by the end of the month.

Lon Kruger and Greg Anthony at the Coaches vs. Cancer Party at the Palms Sunday night.

Greg Anthony had just flown cross-country from New York and didn’t even had time to check into his hotel room when he stopped by Lon Kruger’s second annual Coaches vs. Cancer Party at The Palms event on Sunday night in the famed Hardwood Suite at The Palms Casino Resort.

Anthony, the star point guard on UNLV’s 1990 national championship squad and arguably the toughest Runnin’ Rebel of them all, said the cause is one that is very near and dear to his heart.

“Coaches vs. Cancer is a wonderful organization,” Anthony said. “Cancer in general has just profoundly impacted my life. My mother died from it at the age of 49, my grandfather … so I always try to get involved.”

The Rancho High product, now arguably the No. 1 college basketball commentator in the nation for CBS, is a big fan of Kruger for both his coaching and off the court charitable acts.

“What Coach Kruger and the rest of the coaches have done in trying to get the message out and to promote this cause and raise dollars for it I think has been significant,” Anthony said. “I think it’s going to continue to grow. We had an amazing turnout (Sunday night). I think they’re going to raise a lot of money. It’s always nice to be able to come back and give back in your own community.

“Coach Kruger is unbelievable,” Anthony continued. “He’s done a great job with the program and also a great job within the community.”

The Hardwood Suite was packed with coaches like Cal’s Mike Montgomery, Kansas State’s Frank Martin, Creighton’s Dana Altman, San Diego’s Bill Grier, Utah’s Jim Boylen, Wyoming’s Heath Schroyer and as well as former Rebel head coaches Charlie Spoonhour, Max Good (now at Loyola Marymount) and, of course, Jerry Tarkanian. UNLV’s cheer squad was also on hand as well as some Playboy bunnies, one of which was a pretty fair shooter.

While many of the coaches took part in a “Hot Shot” shooting competition with fans who paid $50 to challenge them, Tark the Shark watched nearby from a small table. A number of fans, coaches and former players stopped by to chat and pose for the pictures with the UNLV coaching legend including Kruger and son Kevin.

“It’s a great event,” Tarkanian said. “It’s a great cause, everybody knows that. I think it’s fun for guys like me to come back and see a lot of the coaches and renew old friendships. It’s a great event. I really enjoy it.”

Jerry Tarkanian (left) poses with Kevin and Lon Kruger at Coaches vs. Cancer Party at the Palms on Sunday night

The turnout for the Party at the Palms, which cost $100 per person and benefits the American Cancer Society, was nearly double that from the inaugural event a year ago.

The MVP was Kruger. Hard to believe it’s been less than two years since he had major heart surgery. For four hours he never stopped moving, posing for pictures, shaking hands, and taking on all comers in shooting contests. I was exhausted just watching him. And at the age of 56, he was arguably the best shooter on a court that also included former Rebels Curtis Terry, Corey Bailey and son Kevin Kruger.

The Coaches vs. Cancer event continues today and Tuesday with a golf tournament at Southern Highlands and TPC Las Vegas.

It’s been 35 years since UNLV head basketball coach Lon Kruger claimed his second consecutive Big Eight Conference Player of the Year Award at Kansas State. But the popular Runnin’ Rebels’ head coach has decided to dust off his jump shot for a very good cause on Sunday night.

Kruger is hosting his second annual Coaches vs. Cancer Party at the Palms in the famed Hardwood Suite at The Palms Casino Resort starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are priced at $100 and benefit the American Cancer Society.

One of the highlights will be a silent auction that includes such prizes as a one hour putting lesson from UNLV golf coach Dwaine Knight, a round of golf with Kruger and Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux at Southern Highlands, a UNLV Runnin’ Rebel Game Day Experience that includes a pre-game meal with Kruger and the Rebels as well as four plaza tickets and an autographed ball, and an autographed Anna Kournikova picture and tennis t-shirt, to name just a few.

The Party at the Palms is also an excellent chance to meet, eat and mingle with Kruger and about two dozen head basketball coaches including former Rebels Jerry Tarkanian, Charlie Spoonhour and Max Good in the exclusive Hardwood Suite, which Palms owner George Maloof offered this week to President Barack Obama as a place to stay during a future Las Vegas visit.

If the President is as big of hoops nut as he claims to be, he might want to make the Hardwood Suite the new Western White House. It’s that nice … especially if you are a basketball junkie. Wooden floors, glass backboards and a locker room that’s nicer than most 5-star hotel suites. It’s worth the price of admission alone.

Kruger said people this year can also challenge coaches at the event to a shooting contest.

“Anyone at the function can challenge a coach to the shooting contest for $50,” Kruger said. “You’ll shoot from five different spots on the floor. If you beat (the coach), you get a $50 certificate to a local restaurant.”

Kruger said the $50 entry fee will help send a child with cancer to a summer camp. So it’s a win-win for everybody no matter how many air balls you jack up.

I’ve thought about challenging our fine old Rebel Nation columnist but I’m not as stupid as I look. Maybe if Lon agrees to wear a blindfold. That might make it a fair fight.

Kruger is also hosting his Coaches vs. Cancer golf tournament on Monday and Tuesday. For further information on both events, contact Melissa Stemmle of the American Cancer Society at 702-891-9012.