Denny Crum, the architect of Louisville’s basketball program that won two National Championships in the 1980s, has died. He was 86.
The California native arrived in Louisville in 1971 after spending four years under the tutelage of John Wooden at UCLA. It did not take long for Crum to see success on the court. The Cards went to the Final Four in his first season.
At the dawn of the decade in 1980, Crum had a charismatic homegrown star that rallied the city. Darrell Griffith and the Doctors of Dunk helped bring home a National Championship. Six years later freshman Pervis Ellison proved it wasn’t a fluke, capping off a 6-year run with two titles and four Final Fours.