Denny Crum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Denny Crum

Crum coaching an exhibition against the Dominican Republic National Team in 2011
Biographical details
Born	(1937-03-02)March 2, 1937 San Fernando, California, U.S.
Died	May 9, 2023(2023-05-09) (aged 86) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Playing career
1955–1957	Pierce Agriculture
1957–1959	UCLA
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1959–1961	UCLA (freshmen)
1961–1963	Los Angeles Pierce JC (assistant)
1963–1967	Los Angeles Pierce JC
1967–1971	UCLA (assistant)
1971–2001	Louisville
Head coaching record
Overall	675–295 (.696)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2× NCAA Division I (1980, 1986) 6× NCAA D-I Final Four (1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986) 3× MVC regular season (1972, 1974, 1975) 12× Metro regular season (1977, 1979–1981, 1983, 1984, 1986–1988, 1990, 1993, 1994) 11× Metro tournament (1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988–1990, 1993–1995)
Awards
2× Sporting News Coach of the Year (1983, 1986) MVC Coach of the Year (1973) 4× Metro Coach of the Year (1979, 1980, 1983, 1994) C-USA Coach of the Year (1996)
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1994
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006
Medal record Head Coach for  United States World University Games Gold 1977 Sofia Head coach Pan American Games Silver 1987 Indianapolis Head coach

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 675–295 (.696) 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. Crum's prolific post-season play and calm demeanor earned him the monikers "Mr. March" and his most well-known nickname, "Cool Hand Luke."

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 basetball at Los Angeles Pierce College from 1955 to 1957, averaging 27 points per game in his first season. In 1956, he transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, to play for coach John Wooden's Bruins. Playing as a guard at UCLA (1957–1959), Crum averaged seven points per game. He was honored with the Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Trophy for outstanding first-year varsity player. He also received the Bruin Bench Award for most improved player the following year.

Coaching career

After graduating in 1959, Crum served as the freshman basketball coach at UCLA. In 1961 he returned to Pierce College as an assistant coach and in 1964 became the head coach through the 1967 season. Crum was then rehired by Wooden as a top assistant coach and chief recruiter. The Bruins won national titles in each of his three seasons. His recruits included Bill Walton, one of the greatest college basketball players ever.

Louisville (1971–2001)

In 1971, Crum was hired as head coach by the University of Louisville, taking over from John Dromo. Although there had been substantial national success under Bernard "Peck" Hickman, the Cardinals last NCAA tourament appearance was in 1968 and Final Four in 1959; they had never won a national championship. In his first season, Crum led Louisville to the Final Four, where they lost to Wooden's UCLA team. The Cardinals reached the Final Four again in 1975, losing again to UCLA. Wooden retired following the tournament after winning his 10th national title. Crum declined the opportunity to succeed his mentor at UCLA. Two years later, he turned down the job again after Wooden's successor, Gene Bartow, left for UAB. Crum led Louisville to four more Final Fours in the 1980s (1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, and 1986). Only five other coaches have reached more Final Fours than Crum's six: Wooden, Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, and Tom Izzo.

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. That squad was credited with popularizing the High-5. Six years later, Louisville defeated Duke 72–69 for a second title, led by Pervis Ellison. Through his first 15 seasons, Crum won 76% of his games. In 1993, he became the second fastest coach to reach 500 wins.

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, his winnging percentage fell to 63%, including a 61–61 record 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. At the time, his 675 career wins ranked 14th in NCAA history. In 30 seasons, Crum took the Cardinals to 23 NCAA tournaments, the 10th most by a coach, while compiling an overall tournament record of 42–22. The Cardinals won 20 or more games in 21 of his 30 seasons. While in the Metro Conference, they won or shared 12 regular season titles and won 11 conference tournament championships.

During his tenure, Crum coached 13 players who were later selected in the first round of the NBA draft, including first overall pick Ellison and six others in the top 10: Junior Bridgeman, Darrell Griffith, Rodney McCray, Lancaster Gordon, Felton Spencer, and Samaki Walker.

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 and would often gesture with it. At Louisville, whose team colors are red and black, Crum sometimes wore a red blazer on the sidelines.

On the court, Crum's teams were famous for running a 2-2-1 zone press that switched at half court to man-to-man defense. Like his mentor at UCLA, John Wooden, Crum ran the high-post offense, which emphasizes post play. 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.

Personal life

Crum was married to his second wife Susan Sweeney Crum, then a news anchor and reporter for Louisville television station WDRB, from 2001 on . In 2006, she became an announcer and news anchor at Louisville public radio station WFPL. He had three children, Cynthia and Steve from his first marriage, and Scott from his second marriage. He lived in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and had a hunting ranch in eastern Idaho.

Crum played professional poker and collected western novels by Louis L'Amour. During his coaching career, he was amongst the founders of the Louisville Eccentric Observer, the city's alternative weekly newspaper. Crum also bred horses.

While able, Crum appeared at various functions with former Cardinal and pro-basketball player Darrell Griffith.

Crum founded The Denny Crum Scholarship Foundation, Inc., which awards scholarships to individuals who have demonstrated leadership, community service, and academic achievement. Requirements include: application form, high school transcript, 3.0 cumulative GPA, and a community service resume listing detailed volunteer involvement and leadership experience.

Crum died at his home on May 9, 2023, at the age of 86.

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.

In 1994 Crum was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 2002, Crum received the Legends of Coaching award given by the John R. Wooden Award Committee. This award recognizes "a coach's character, success rate on the court, graduating rate of student athletes, [and] his coaching philosophy".

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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See also

In Spanish: Denny Crum para niños