The most beloved coach in Louisville Cardinals history has passed away.
Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer Denny Crum died at his home Tuesday, School announced. He was 86 years old. Crum led Louisville to national championships in men’s basketball in 1980 and 1986. In 80, Louisville won the “Doctors of Dunk,” led by the intimidating presence of Darrell Griffith. In 1986, Louisville beat Duke in the national title game thanks to the balanced play of a freshman: “Nervous” Pervis Ellison.
Karam has coached 30 seasons, all of them at the U of L, where he has a . 696 winning percentage and won 675 of 970 games played. Crum has led Louisville to six Final Fours (1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986), and because of the program’s consistency and relevance for much of its time, Louisville has Easy claim to being in the top 10 of all time in men’s college basketball.
“Today is a sad day for me personally as well as for the basketball world,” Cardinals coach Kenny Payne said in a statement. “I think about all the lessons he taught, not just me, but every player he came into contact with. Those lessons are still relevant today. We were so lucky to have him in our lives. He was a true treasure who gave so much to the university and the community. We must keep his memory alive.” My prayers go out to his family and especially Suzanne. He is in a better place. Rest in peace Coach. It touched a lot. Well done.”
Louisville has been to the NCAA Tournament in 23 of Crum’s 30 seasons, the first 13 years of that run coming before the Big Dance expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Crum carried an impressive 43-23 record in the NCAAs. At the time of his retirement, the only coaches with more Final Four appearances than him were the three greatest coaches in sports history: John Wooden, Dean Smith, and Mike Krzewski.
Crum’s basketball legacy was solidified in 1994, when he was awarded the sport’s highest honor: the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
“The University of Louisville, and basketball fans in our communities and colleges everywhere have lost a legend in Coach Denny Crum,” Louisville President Kim Schatzel said in a statement. Whether he was leading the Cardinals’ beloved teams, representing the university with alumni and friends or supporting the many community organizations that relied on his generous spirit and enthusiasm, Coach Crum left an unparalleled legacy. He will be remembered by many for not only his wins and championships, but also for his calm demeanor and warm sense of humor. And a deep love for his adopted hometown and its people. Our lives are better because we’ve known him. Our hearts go out to Susan and the entire Crum family.”
Denzil Edwin Crum was born on March 2, 1937 in San Fernando, California. One of the most outstanding coaches in the history of college basketball began his collegiate relationships at a little-known university that was less than a decade old when he attended the Clarence W. Pierce School of Agriculture. The school later changed its name to Los Angeles Pierce College. Crome transferred after two years to UCLA, where he would play under Coach (Wooden) who would eventually begin his coaching career.
After graduating from UCLA in 1961, Crum returned to Pierce, first to be an assistant and then head coach there, at the junior college level, for four years. In 1967, he returned to UCLA and served under Wooden at the height of the UCLA dynasty, coaching the likes of Lew Alcindor, Sidney Wicks, and Curtis Rowe. The Bruins won four straight national titles in the four seasons Crum was an assistant. Louisville hired him in 1971.
In the following years, Crum could be seen barking orders to his players with a program coiled in one hand—just as Wood often did at UCLA. Louisville from the Missouri Valley went into the Metro Conference at Crum’s time, and in all of his 19 years of coaching at the Metros, Louisville has finished first or second in the conference. Crum has an elite reputation for his coaching acumen, both in analyzing scouting reports and in-game tweaks.
He elevated, then legitimized, Louisville basketball, and in doing so kept the Cardinals apace for many seasons with their over-state rivals, the Kentucky Wildcats. Indeed, when Kentucky faded amid cheating scandals in the 1980s, Louisville peaked as a program. The embers of that rivalry, which Crum helped rekindle in 1983 after being dormant since the 1950s, have fueled a Bluegrass competitiveness that has led many in Kentucky to swear by the idea that it is UK-Louisville, not Duke-North. Carolina – she’s the fiercest. / Best Rivalry in College Basketball.
Crum also coached the United States to the gold medal at the 1977 World University Games.
In a bittersweet twist of fate, Crome’s retirement came at the same age as his mentor. Both Wood and he blew the whistle at the age of 64. For Wood, retirement was entirely his decision, a decision that, coincidentally enough, was made public by Wood after UCLA’s victory over Crum’s Cardinals in 1975 in the National Semifinals. Conversely, Croom was forced out by the university’s powerbrokers, led by then-athletic director Tom Gorish. Crum’s tenure ended in a whimper (the Cardinals’ 12-19 mark in 2000-01 was his worst season in three decades), and while he tinkered, Louisville courted and landed another Hall of Famer: Rick Pitino.
Although divided with some acrimony, Crum never left Louisville, living there into his eighties and pursuing two of his most passionate hobbies: hunting and fishing. He was also retained as a Special Assistant in the Office of the President.
“Since 2001, the Denny Crum Scholarship Foundation and UofL’s Denny Crum Scholarship Fund have awarded more than $1 million benefiting over 425 students,” the school said Tuesday. “The San Fernando, California, Louisville native has made it his home and has loaned countless hours of his time to charitable causes throughout the community for more than 50 years.”
The university has also opened a residence hall, Crum, in the fall of 2022.
In the end, the last few years of the Cardinals’ hoops under Crum did not tarnish Louisville’s legacy. While Pitino’s drawn-out end in Louisville was covered in controversy and NCAA scandal, Crum (who watched the NCAA investigation himself in the late 1990s) was nonetheless considered the beloved custodian of Cardinals basketball for 60 years. The old courthouse at Freedom Hall – and now the courthouse at KFC Yum! Center – named after him, and almost certainly will remain so as long as they play basketball in Louisville.