Denny Crum

Denzel Edwin Crum (March 2, 1937 – May 9, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships (1980, 1986) and six Final Fours. Honored in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 1994, Crum was one of the major figures in the history of sports in Kentucky and in college basketball.

Crum played college ball for the UCLA Bruins under head coach John Wooden. He was later an assistant under Wooden, and the Bruins won a national championship in each of his three seasons on the staff. As the head coach at Louisville, Crum was widely credited with pioneering the now-common strategy of scheduling tough non-conference match-ups early in the season in order to prepare his teams for March's NCAA tournament, where one defeat ends the season.

Playing career

Denzel Edwin Crum was born in San Fernando, California, in Los Angeles County. After graduating from San Fernando High School in 1955, he played basketball at Los Angeles Pierce College from 1955 to 1957, The Bruins went 38–14 in his two seasons. Crum was then rehired by UCLA to replace assistant coach Jerry Norman, and became John Wooden's top assistant coach and chief recruiter. Crum took a $3,000 pay cut from UCLA compared to his earnings at Pierce. Although the Cardinals had substantial national success under former coach Bernard "Peck" Hickman, their last NCAA tournament appearance was in 1968 and Final Four in 1959; they had never won a national championship. UCLA's salary offer was around half of what Louisville was paying him, and even less when he factored in the higher cost of living in Los Angeles. Crum said life in Louisville was "more relaxed and it's not a hassle to do everything".

In 1979–80, national player of the year Darrell Griffith led the Cardinals to a 33–3 record. They defeated Crum's alma mater, UCLA, 59–54, to win the 1980 national championship. Six years later, Louisville defeated Duke, 72–69, for their second title, led by Pervis Ellison, who became the first freshman to be named the NCAA tournament's most outstanding player. Through his first 15 seasons, Crum won 76% of his games.

On his 64th birthday in 2001, Crum announced that he would retire at the end of the season. Though Crum insisted the decision was his, it was widely rumored that Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich drove him out to pursue the newly available Rick Pitino. In the last 15 seasons of his career, Crum's winning percentage fell to 63%, including a 61–61 record in his final four seasons. including twice in his final four seasons. Nonetheless, he led the Cardinals to four 20-win seasons and eight NCAA tournaments in the 1990s. He retired with a record of 675–295, a 69.6% winning percentage.

Other coaching

Crum coached the U.S. World University team to a gold medal in 1977. He led the American's Pan American team to a silver medal in 1987.

Coaching style

Crum had a signature style as a coach. He usually held a rolled-up program in one hand during games, like Wooden, He stood composed, eschewing theatrics. "It's hard for players to play under control if you're not. It's hard to think or function when you're screaming", he said.

On the court, Crum's system mirrored Wooden's. Louisville was famous for running a 2-2-1 zone press that switched at half court to man-to-man defense. He ran a variation of Wooden's trademark high-post offense. Even Crum's guards tended to score on the interior: his 1980 national championship team was known as the "Doctors of Dunk." On defense, his players were expected to be interchangeable, switching on all picks, and fronted the pivot. This defense denied interior passes and encouraged perimeter shots. The year after Crum won his last national championship in 1986, the NCAA introduced the three-point line, revolutionizing the game. With outside shooting newly emphasized, Crum was slow to adjust. He never returned to the Final Four, coming as close as the Elite Eight in 1997.

Throughout his career, Crum was known for superior in-game coaching. His teams tended to score immediately out of timeouts—using plays Crum would draw up in the huddle—and play well in close games.

Radio career

From 2004 to 2014, Crum co-hosted a local radio talk show with former University of Kentucky head coach Joe B. Hall. Both did their portions of the show from different studios, Crum in Louisville and Hall in Lexington. The Joe B. and Denny Show was the top Fox Sports radio show in the state of Kentucky. The show, which aired on WKRD in Louisville and WVLK-FM in Lexington, was carried by 21 stations in all at its peak, and still had 16 stations when it ended on October 30, 2014, after WVLK-FM announced a format change. In 2006, she became an announcer and news anchor at Louisville public radio station WFPL. Crum had three children, Cynthia and Steve from his first marriage, and Scott from his second marriage. and collected western novels by Louis L'Amour.

While able, Crum appeared at various functions with former Cardinal and pro-basketball player Darrell Griffith. Over 500 students have benefitted from the Foundation. It has awarded over $1.5 million in scholarships.

Crum had a stroke in 2017 and another in 2019. A celebration of life was held on May 15, 2023, at the KFC Yum! Center. In July 2024 it was reported that Crum's handcrafted headstone was dumped into the Red Sea after the ship conveying it from India came under attack from Houthi pirates.

Honors

In the 1980s, Crum was named National Coach of the Year three times (1980, 1983, 1986). He was awarded Metro Conference Coach of the year three times (1979, 1980, 1983). In 1980, he was also named the Sporting News Coach of the Year, the Basketball Weekly Coach of the Year, and the Basketball Weekly Man of the Year.

Crum was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.

On February 7, 2007, Louisville's home floor at Freedom Hall was officially named "Denny Crum Court." When the Cardinals basketball teams moved to the downtown KFC Yum! Center in 2010, the name "Denny Crum Court" was retained in the new facility.

In 2010 Crum was an inaugural inductee of Pierce College's athletic hall of fame.

Head coaching record

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