Hall of Fame Coach Crum Retires
L O U I S V I L L E, Ky., March 2, 2001 -- Denny Crum retired today on his 64thbirthday, ending a 30-year career at Louisville in which he coachedthe Cardinals to six Final Fours and two national championships.
His retirement confirms speculation that began at midseason thatthis season would be his last year. His team is 11-18 heading intoSaturday's regular-season finale against Memphis.
The Hall of Fame coach had two years left on his contract.
Crum has won 674 games, 14th on the career list. The only activeDivision I basketball coach with more time at one school is JimPhelan, with 47 years at Mount St. Mary's.
Strained Relations
Crum's teams have gone a mere 61-61 the past four seasons, withan 0-2 mark in the NCAA tournament. The program was also hit withsanctions twice in the 1990s, although none of the violations wasdirectly linked to Crum.
"I'm going because I want to," Crum said at a news conference.
Crum had promised to return next season, touting the incomingclass as one of his best in years. But he met with athleticdirector Tom Jurich on Jan. 25 after Jurich was quoted as saying hecould not guarantee Crum would be back.
Crum's strained relationship with Jurich escalated last weekwith the release of confidential memos between the two. Universitypresident Shumaker called the release of the memos "notappropriate."
Shumaker denied then that university officials have held secretmeetings, talked with boosters about buyouts or contacted othercoaches.
"It should've never happened like this," said JuniorBridgeman, a member of the school's board of trustees who playedfor Crum from 1972-75. "So many people outside the program havegotten involved and it was disappointing to see this handled thisway.
"It's also amazing to me how things turn. Here's a guy who'sbuilt this program from the ground up and the speculation just keptgetting worse. I didn't like to see it."
Passed John Wooden on All-Time Victory List
Louisville remained a perennial Top 25 team into the mid-1990s,posting seven 20-win seasons from 1987-97. The Cardinals went 26-9and reached the national quarterfinals in 1997.
Crum passed John Wooden on the all-time victory list this seasonin Louisville's 86-85 win over UNLV in this year's Maui Classic.
Crum blamed this year's struggles on youth. The squad had onlytwo seniors and six freshmen — his youngest team ever. His strongrecruiting class for next season included Carlos Hurt, consideredone of the best guards in the nation.
Crum is only active college coach in the Hall of Fame, and heand Duke's Mike Krzyzewski were the only two active coaches withmore than one NCAA title. Crum's six Final Fours were second amongactive coaches to Krzyzewski's eight.
Three Championships at UCLA
A native of San Fernando, Calif., Crum played for Wooden at UCLAin the 1950s. He graduated in 1958 and served as a graduateassistant coach for Wooden from 1959-61. He coached briefly atPierce Junior College in Los Angeles, before returning to work forWooden from 1968-71. The Bruins went 86-4 and won three nationalchampionships while Crum was there.
Wooden, who remains one of Crum's most trusted mentors, couldnot be reached for comment today. He attended Crum's inductioninto the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994.
Crum replaced John Dromo as Louisville's coach in 1971 and theCardinals reached the Final Four in his first season, losing toUCLA in the semifinals. Louisville returned to the Final Four in1975 and again in 1980, breaking through for the school's firstchampionship by beating UCLA in the championship game.
The Cardinals won their second championship in Dallas in 1986,beating Duke 72-69 in the title game. They haven't been back to theFinal Four since.