When the popularity of men’s college basketball was exploding right after the Bird-vs.-Magic national championship game of 1979, Louisville was there to grab the baton and soar with it, above the rim, helping take the sport even higher. For a stretch of time in the heyday ’80s, the Cardinals were the coolest program in the country. They won big; they were exciting; they were colorful; and they had soul.
Coach Denny Crum was the leader, and he was a fearless one. Crum, who died Tuesday at the age of 86, continued the evolution of college basketball as a showcase of Black excellence beyond where Texas Western and others had taken it. He, along with Guy Lewis at Houston, put all-Black lineups on the floor that dazzled with their high-flying style of play—they were fundamentally sound and athletically explosive, an intoxicating combination.
From 1980 to ’86, Crum won two national championships and went to four Final Fours. He took Louisville to six total Final Fours in his 30 seasons at the school, turning down at least one chance to go back home to California and coach his alma mater, UCLA. He wound up being a perfect fit at an urban school in the mid-South, becoming the most beloved figure in the university’s athletic history.
