Who was Denny Crum the legendary Louisville coach who passed away at 86?
A sad day for college basketball fans and of all, those from Louisville. The architect of one NCAA’s greatest dynasties has passed away and will be missed.
One of the most influential coaches in college basketball history, Louisville’s coach Crum dominated the college scene for the better part of two decades during both the 70s and 80s.
Louisville’s legendary coach Denny Crum passes away
Reports have confirmed the sad news that on Tuesday morning, former University of Louisville head coach, Denny Crum, passed away in his home at the age of 86-years-old. Crum of course was the mastermind behind the formidable Louisville teams of the 70s and 80s that became the dominant force of college basketball.
In total, Crum spent 30 years as the head coach at Louisville and during that time won two national championships, one in 1980 and the second in 1986. Under Crumb’s stewardship, the Cardinals made six appearances in the Final Four (1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1986), won the regular season conference championship on 15 occasions, clinched 11 Metro Conference tournament titles and participated in an incredible 23 NCAA tournaments. He was also voted college basketball’s National Coach of the Year on three occasions, which is to say his Hall of Fame induction was simply a formality.
Who was Denny Crum?
Known as “Cool Hand Luke” for his calm courtside demeanor, Crum ended his career in 2001 with a 43-23 record in NCAA tournament play. To put that in perspective, only John Wooden, Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski have more Final Four appearances than Crum and they are regarded as the ‘other’ greatest coaches of all time. Incidentally, Crum actually played for Wooden at UCLA and would coach for him as well before getting the job at Louisville in 1971. Regarding his induction, he joined the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
When the curtain came down on his career, he had an all-time record of 675-295 record and with that remains to this day one of only 14 college coaches to win at least two national titles. In recent years Crum suffered with a number of health issues including two strokes which he suffered. None the less, he remained present in the Louisville community. Denny Crum is survived by his second wife Susan and their son Scott, as well as his two children from his first marriage, Cynthia and Steve.