Crum Used Pierce as Steppingstone to Hall of Fame

Louisville basketball Coach Denny Crum always wanted success on his own terms.

He turned down NBA offers and even a chance to coach UCLA, his alma mater, so he could mold Louisville into a national power.

Now that he has, Crum wants to be accompanied into the Basketball Hall of Fame at the side of his former mentor, legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden.

Crum, a 1955 graduate of San Fernando High, played at Pierce College from 1955-57 before coming under Wooden’s tutelage at UCLA during the 1957-58 and 1958-59 seasons. He was the Bruins’ graduate assistant from 1959-61 and an assistant coach from 1967-71.

In between his stints at UCLA, Crum served as an assistant at Pierce from 1961-64 and was the Brahmas’ head coach from 1964-67.

“They told me I had to be escorted by a Hall of Fame member,” said Crum, who was elected Tuesday. “When you play for someone and then coach under him and take the things that you learned from him and have success from that, I just want him to be part of it.”

Wooden, the only person enshrined as a player and coach, said he will try to attend the induction ceremony May 9 if he is healthy enough to make the trip to Springfield, Mass.

“I’d certainly love to,” Wooden said from his Encino home. “I’m very proud of him.”

Crum, 56, joins Indiana’s Bobby Knight and North Carolina’s Dean Smith as the only active coaches elected to the Hall of Fame.

Crum, who began coaching Louisville in 1971, let it be known after he lost to UCLA in a 1975 Final Four semifinal game that he wouldn’t be interested in taking over for Wooden, who retired after that year.

“I had the opportunity to go to UCLA, but I chose not to do that,” said Crum, who coached Louisville to NCAA titles in 1980 and 1986. “Not because of anything negative but because I grew to love it here.

“I think it was the challenge. I think it was the chance to do something I enjoyed and make a living at it. A lot of people dread to go to work every day.”

Crum has never had that problem. Pete Nelson, the cross-country and co-track coach at Kennedy High and a fraternity brother of Crum’s at UCLA, said Crum was consumed by basketball.

“He played it, slept it and studied basketball all the time,” Nelson said. “I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who was so focused.”

Said Wooden: “I’ve been called a purist. I’d say he tends that way too. He’s not a showman. Some coaches want to be seen. I wanted people come to watch my players. I think Denny’s that way.”

Ken Stanley, the men’s volleyball coach at Pierce and a Brahma assistant under Crum, said there is more to Crum than winning.

“He always remembers a friend,” Stanley said. “Once he met you and was around you, he didn’t forget you, and that’s a great quality. When you’re around him, you always feel like you’re special.”

Crum has directed the Cardinals to 17 NCAA tournament appearances, including 14 of the last 17 years. His teams have won 20 or more games in 18 of 22 seasons.

Staff writer John Ortega contributed to this story.