Louisville Players, Fans Celebrate NCAA Victory

Almost 20,000 people packed into Freedom Hall Tuesday night to welcome the national collegiate basketball champion Louisville Cardinals with signs and cheers.

As the celebration began, Coach Denny Crum, his assistants and members of the team walked out on a runway waving and raising their fingers in No. 1 signs as the crowd roared.

Twenty hours earlier, the Cardinals beat top-ranked Duke, 72-69, in the NCAA Tournament championship game in Dallas. It was Louisville’s second NCAA title of the decade, the other coming in 1980.

“This celebration is really a fan appreciation night,” Athletic Director Bill Olsen said. He noted that at each of the three tournament sites, there were more Louisville fans than available tickets.

“We played our guts out for you, those guys down there did,” assistant coach Jerry Jones said.

All the players except the seniors were introduced to the crowd along with the dignitaries in attendance. They included U.S. Sen. Wendell Ford, U.S. Rep. Ron Mazzoli, Gov. Martha Layne Collins, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and Jefferson County Judge-Executive Harvey Sloane. The seniors made individual speeches later.