Denny Crum, the Hall of Fame college basketball coach who led the Louisville Cardinals to a pair of national championships in the 1980s, died Tuesday at the age of 86.
Crum played college basketball under legendary coach John Wooden at UCLA in the late 1950s, then joined the Bruins’ staff as an assistant under Wooden, helping the program to three national titles during his time there. Louisville hired the California native as its coach back in 1971, and the program rose to national prominence under his stewardship.
Crum led the Cardinals to the Final Four six times, winning national titles in 1980 and ’86, and made the NCAA tournament an impressive 23 times in his 30 seasons. He oversaw Louisville’s move from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Metro Conference to Conference USA, and his teams won 15 regular-season conference titles across the two different leagues.
In 1993, Crum became the second fastest coach to win 500 games. Nicknamed “Cool Hand Luke” for his calm demeanor, he had a 675-295 mark at Louisville before retiring in 2001.
“They don’t make them like Coach any more. Coach Crum was the type of coach that everybody gravitated to,” former Louisville star Darrell Griffith told WDRB in 2022. “He was just so personable. … He opened up this program to the city. Everybody was welcome. People feel that.”
Crum was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. Some 25 years later, he was one of six coaches to be honored with a commemorative bench around a statue of Dr. James Naismith outside the Springfield, Massachusetts-based hall. Naismith officials said the recognition was for a group that exemplified the values of the hall’s namesake: teamwork, determination, self-respect, leadership, initiative, and perseverance.
Upon retirement, Crum started the “Denny Crum Scholarship Fund,” which awards scholarships to Louisville for students who show a “commitment to leadership and community service, academic achievement and volunteer involvement.” Louisville’s home court at the KFC Yum! Center is named after him.
Crum was hospitalized in 2017 after doctors said he suffered a mild stroke while fishing in Alaska. Two years later, he was hospitalized again after another stroke.
