ChompTalk.com

Former head coach of the Florida Gators men’s basketball team Lon Kruger announced his retirement from college basketball Thursday.

Kruger, who served as the head of the Oklahoma Sooners since 2011, met with his players to tell them he was stepping away from the sport, Jon Rothstein said on Twitter.

Kruger first worked as a head coach in 1982 at Texas-Pan American. Two jobs later, he took over at Florida in 1990.

After a 46-43 record and no tournament appearances through three years, Florida broke through under Kruger in 1994. The Gators won 29 games, the most in school history at the time, and reached their first Final Four.

Florida began the next season 10th in the AP Poll and reached as high as sixth before finishing 17-13 and losing to Iowa State in the opening round of the tournament, 64-61.

Kruger left for Illinois after the 1996 season, and he was replaced by a relatively unknown coach named Billy Donovan.

Kruger finished with an 104-80 record in Gainesville, the fifth-most wins and the third-highest win percentage in Florida history. He’s one of only four Gator coaches with multiple tournament appearances and the only one not named Donovan to reach the Final Four.

Kruger coached 1106 games with six different teams, finishing with a 674-432 record. He reached the NCAA Tournament 20 times in 35 seasons. He’s one of just three coaches to reach the tournament with five different schools, and reached the Final Four again with the Sooners in 2016.