Denny Crum coaching record: Looking at Louisville Hall of Fame coach's career
It was confirmed earlier that former Louisville Cardinals head coach Denny Crum passed away at the age of 86. The legendary coach is considered one of the best leaders and has had a Hall of Fame coaching career.
Crum started his coaching career back in 1971, when he was hired by the University of Louisville. Throughout his coaching career, Crum has led the cardinals to the final four multiple times, which makes him seventh in all-time final four appearances. That record ties him with Adolph Rupp, the head coach of the University of Kentucky for 41 years.
Due to his stellar leadership, Crum has led the Cardinals to a ton of accolades when he was still the coach. He's a two-time NCAA Division I champion, a three-time MVC regular season champ and 11-time Metro tournament title holder among others.
Crum retired from coaching back in 2001 with a 675–295 record.
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Who replaced Denny Crum at Louisville after he retired in 2001?
Louisville basketball would never be the same after the retirement of Denny Crum back in 2001. He transformed the culture of the school when it comes to basketball, which is why he's regarded as one of the best coaches to ever lead the Cardinals. With that said, let's take a look at who replaced him after calling it quits in 2001.
The Crum era was replaced by Rick Pitino, who had prior experience coaching at the highest level of basketball. He's had two stints as a coach with the New York Knicks. During his first stint, he was an assistant coach for the Knickerbockers from 1983-85 and a head coach from 1987-89.
Before joining Louisville, he was the head coach of the Boston Celtics back in 1997-01. Through those years, he amassed a 102-146 record, which wasn't impressive. Pitino wasn't just the head coach of the team, he was also the team president and had complete control over basketball operations.
Pitino went back to coaching in the collegiate level as he replaced Crum. Throughout his 15 seasons with the school, he led the Cardinals to a 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Elite Eight on six occasions and the Final Four three times.
In 2013, he was inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 2017, he became part of a scandal that ended his stint with the Cardinals. Louisville went under investigation for an alleged "pay for play" scandal. During the latter part of the year, the ULAA board unanimously voted to fire Pitino despite the coach not having prior knowledge of an investigation.
Pitino was recently hired as head coach by St. John's, after the school fired Mike Anderson.
Iona coach Rick Pitino has agreed to sign a six-year deal with St. John’s to become the program’s next men’s basketball coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Adrian Wojnarowski trib.al/fPY3OPa
Also read: “I’ve made my mistakes, but I’ve always run a clean program” - Rick Pitino speaks candidly about scandals in past