Denzel Edwin Crum (March 2, 1937 – May 9, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a 675–295 (.696) record.

Crum played college ball for the UCLA Bruins under head coach John Wooden.

[3] Crum's prolific post-season play and calm demeanor earned him the monikers "Mr. March" and his most well-known nickname, "Cool Hand Luke".

[4][5] Denzel Edwin Crum was born in San Fernando, California, in Los Angeles County.

[6] After graduating from San Fernando High School in 1955, he played basketball at Los Angeles Pierce College from 1955 to 1957,[7] averaging 27 points per game in his first season.

[6][13] In 1971, Crum was hired as head coach by the University of Louisville, taking over for John Dromo,[6] but he left UCLA thinking he would return one day to succeed Wooden.

[3] In his first season, Crum led Louisville to the Final Four, where they lost to Wooden's UCLA team.

[3][8] UCLA's salary offer was around half of what Louisville was paying him, and even less when he factored in the higher cost of living in Los Angeles.

[17][5] Only five other coaches have reached more Final Fours than Crum's six: Wooden, Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, and Tom Izzo.

[6][19] Six years later, Louisville defeated Duke, 72–69, for their second title, led by Pervis Ellison,[20] who became the first freshman to be named the NCAA tournament's most outstanding player.

Though Crum insisted the decision was his, it was widely rumored that Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich drove him out to pursue the newly available Rick Pitino.

[5] During his tenure, Crum coached 13 players who were later selected in the first round of the NBA draft, including first overall pick Ellison and six others in the top 10: Junior Bridgeman, Darrell Griffith, Rodney McCray, Lancaster Gordon, Felton Spencer, and Samaki Walker.

[12][30] Louisville was famous for running a 2-2-1 zone press that switched at half court to man-to-man defense.

[8][32] Even Crum's guards tended to score on the interior: his 1980 national championship team was known as the "Doctors of Dunk.

The year after Crum won his last national championship in 1986, the NCAA introduced the three-point line, revolutionizing the game.

[36] From 2004 to 2014, Crum co-hosted a local radio talk show with former University of Kentucky head coach Joe B.

[9] During his coaching career, he was amongst the founders of the Louisville Eccentric Observer, the city's alternative weekly newspaper.

Requirements include: application form, high school transcript, 3.0 cumulative GPA, and a community service resume listing detailed volunteer involvement and leadership experience.

[47] In July 2024 it was reported that Crum's handcrafted headstone was dumped into the Red Sea after the ship conveying it from India came under attack from Houthi pirates.

[9] In 1994, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame;[6] during the ceremony, he was accompanied to the stage by Wooden.

[50] On February 7, 2007, Louisville's home floor at Freedom Hall was officially named "Denny Crum Court.