UNLV coach Lon Kruger is the type of successful, high-level coach Arizona is seeking, but he says he is more than content in his current gig. AP 2008

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For the second straight game, the Arizona Wildcats will get on the floor with a coach who could be theirs next season.

But UNLV's Lon Kruger speaks like he isn't that guy. To him, it's Russ Pennell.

"Russ is doing a great job," Kruger said. "Hopefully, he'll keep it going and stay there. I hope Russ stays there. You watch them on film and you see they can't be playing any better. They're confident, enthusiastic. You can tell they're playing well."

Kruger already liked Pennell before this season: Pennell was the ASU recruiter who helped pull in Kruger's son, Kevin, to play for Rob Evans on the Sun Devils.

Kruger said he respected Evans and his staff when Evans coached Mississippi and Kruger was across the SEC at Florida in the 1990s.

"Kevin had a great experience with them," said Kruger, who eventually landed Kevin on his team at UNLV after Evans was fired at ASU in 2006. "It was Kevin's decision, but we felt great about it as parents. … Russ is a basketball guy who's lived a life of basketball."

Under Pennell this season, the Wildcats are 7-2 entering today's Las Vegas Bowl warm-up show at the Thomas & Mack Center, getting votes in the national top 25 polls again. But UA athletic director Jim Livengood has said he is searching for an established head coach with proven recent success.

Because Pennell has not been a college head coach before, that might rule him out, and he knows it.

When an out-of-town reporter asked him on Tuesday's Pac-10 teleconference call if he would consider the UA job if the Wildcats continue playing well, Pennell said he didn't think it would be in his best interests — and probably not in the UA's, either.

"Right now, our recruiting is pretty much null and void," Pennell said. "I really think this program needs a big shot in the arm, with somebody who can bring some players in. I'm afraid my name might not carry enough weight to do that. I'm just very honest about that. I get what college basketball has become. You never say never, but I really don't even let myself go down that road."

Kruger, meanwhile, has the kind of credentials Livengood is searching for. He's one of only three coaches to have won NCAA tournament games with four different programs, and he has NBA head-coaching experience with the Atlanta Hawks (2000-03).

Kruger took Florida to the 1994 Final Four. And he has taken UNLV the furthest it has been in the postseason since Jerry Tarkanian's defending national champions lost to Duke in the 1991 Final Four.

Fans in their transient town have rallied around the team in a manner that hasn't been seen since Tarkanian left the program in 1992, especially when they won two games in the 2007 NCAA tournament.

"When we reached the Sweet 16 that year, I had never seen Vegas like that," UNLV guard Wink Adams said. "Last year (when UNLV reached the second round), it was kind of the same way. We overcame a lot of boundaries."

The only problem, if Livengood wanted Kruger, would be luring him away. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Kruger's five-year deal at UNLV through 2012 was sweetened last spring to include a $5.4 million total, plus a $325,000 completion bonus if he stays to the end of the contract.

Kruger also has a lucrative ticket-revenue-sharing deal that could net him a significant six-figure amount if the Rebels surpass budgeted ticket revenues for any given year and, if he leaves, he must pay UNLV $500,000.

In addition, a week after Lute Olson retired, Kruger said, "We're not interested in that," when the Sun asked him about the Arizona job. In a phone interview Thursday, Kruger did not change his stance.

"I love the situation here," Kruger said. "We absolutely love Las Vegas. The people have been great, and the city's terrific."

Of course, no current coach can publicly claim interest in the UA without sabotaging his own recruiting. But Adams says Kruger may be dead serious in what he's saying, especially after how UNLV has treated him.

"Coach Kruger is very loyal to people who have given to him," Adams said. "He's a very loyal person off the court. That carries on to his coaching style. So when other offers come up, I don't think he takes a look."