Crum Rounds Up Talented Group of Newcomers After Off-Season for Louisville

The other Metro Conference coaches can’t help feeling Louisville’s Denny Crum will be playing with a stacked deck this year.

He’s got aces he hasn’t even shown yet.

Crum, who has guided the Cardinals to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, reacted sharply to last year’s 19-18 disappointment -- the first time in his 14 seasons at Louisville the Cardinals didn’t win 20 games. Tony Kimbro, Pervis Ellison, Kenny Payne, David Robinson, Keith Williams. Remember the names of these freshmen elite--the Metro won’t soon forget them.

Louisville’s recruiting bonanza is the envy of college basketball in 1985-86 and the freshmen will join guards Milt Wagner and Jeff Hall and forward Billy Thompson for a powerful club that should jell just in time for conference play.

“This is probably as talented a group physically as we’ve ever had here.” Crum says. “But how they develop and how they learn to handle the rigors of the college scene will probably determine how far we go.

“We’ve got three freshmen way ahead of the rest. Pervis Ellison will probably be our center and I think he’ll be a great player. He and Kimbro not only have great talent, but also have a real feel for the game, instincts you can’t teach. Kenny Payne is as good a freshman shooter as I’ve ever had. Let’s just say our future looks good for the next three or four years.”

Ellison, a 6-foot-9 stringbean from Savannah, Ga., averaged 27 points, 19 rebounds and 7 blocked shots as a senior. Kimbro, dubbed by Crum, “one of the most talented players that have ever joined our program,” is a 6-7 forward from Louisville who was honored as Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball while Payne, 6-8, was named Mississippi’s High School Player of the Year.

Crum isn’t the only college basketball grinning these days over his freshman talent. North Carolina recruited a 6-3 gem in guard Jeff Lebo, who will be worked in behind veterans Kenny Smith and Steve Hale. Lebo of Carlisle, Pa., has been called “the greatest guard I’ve seen at the high school level in 25 years” by DeMatha High School coach Morgan Wootten.

North Carolina State signed 6-6 forward Walker Lambiotte, who averaged 28 points a game at Central High in Woodstock, Va., and scored 24 points in an East-West All-Star Game to earn MVP honors. Another freshman forward to watch is Georgia Tech’s 6-8 Tom Hammonds, a powerful rebounder from Crestview, Fla., who displayed a soft jumper during the National Sports Festival. Also keep your eye on South Carolina forward Terry Dozier, a 6-7 package of skill and enthusiasm.

The best center in a mediocre rookie crop of middle men could be 6-10 Danny Ferry, the son of Washington Bullets general Manager Bob Ferry. Duke won the Ferry sweepstakes and they will find a strong inside player, fundamentally sound but lacking quickness.

The rookie guard group is headed by UCLA’s Jerome Richardson and Rod Strickland of DePaul. Richardson, 6-1, should flourish under Coach Walt Hazzard, a former NBA guard. The Blue Demons will be thrilled by Strickland’s poise and leadership as the 6-2 whippet excelled in the Dapper Dan Classic and the National Sports Festival.

Southern Mississippi coach M.K. Turk, who saw the smooth-talking Crum whisk Payne away from his backyard, knows the value of a powerful recruiting class.

“I can see our recruiting improve each year as we are identified more and more with the Metro Conference,” says Turk, whose top newcomer is 6-6 forward Jurado Minton of Richton, Miss. “I’m firmly convinced you must get players from your own area. We have recruiting heading in the direction we want and there’s no doubt it’s the lifeblood of your program.

“I remember (former UCLA coach) John Wooden’s famous saying: ‘Not every coach can win with the players, but no coach can win without them.’ ”