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NCAA basketball: Ranking the 25 best college basketball coaches ever

By Nate Williamson

Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Blue Devils, Roy Williams, North Carolina Tar Heels. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Blue Devils, Roy Williams, North Carolina Tar Heels. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Best college basketball coaches ever
Mandatory Credit: J.D. Cuban/ALLSPORT /

No. 17: Denny Crum

During an entire 30-yer head coaching career with the Louisville Cardinals, Denny Crum took his program to the top tier of college basketball starting with the first season when he took them to the first of a total six Final Four appearances.

In those six appearances to the semifinals, Crum’s Cardinals also went to a pair of national championships. With a record of 675-295 in his coaching career, he sits in the top-25 of the career coaching wins and is a member of both the Basketball Hall of Fame (1994) and the College Basketball Hall of Fame (2006).

His resume also includes three MVC regular-season titles, 12 Metro regular-season titles and 11 Metro tournament titles, as well as a Coach of the Year award in both the MVC and Conference USA.

Despite some whispers that he was pushed out of Louisville by athletic director Tom Jurich in order to hire the newly-available Pitino, Crum is one of the key figures in Kentucky sports history and was a stalwart for years at his Louisville post.

A branch of Wooden’s coaching tree (as a player with UCLA), Crum’s reputation and career at both the collegiate and national level won’t soon be forgotten by Louisville fans.