Denny Crum
University of Louisville
Denny Crum received the John R. Wooden Award “Legends of Coaching” honor in 2002. He has directed the Cardinals to 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, including eight of the last nine years and 20 of the last 24. Three of his squads participated in the NIT, reaching the NIT semifinals in 1985. The Cardinals captured or shared 12 Metro Conference regular season titles and 11 post-season tournament championships under Crum’s guidance. The Cardinals have a 45-31 record in their initial five seasons in Conference USA, finishing second in the league each of the last two years. Crum has engineered the Cardinals to 20 or more victories in an amazing 21 of 29 seasons, ranking him eighth in all-time 20-win seasons — a mark even more impressive considering U of L annually plays one of the nation’s toughest schedules. His teams have won an average of over 24 games per season while losing nine games a year.