Crum, Hall had a unique relationship on, off the court
May 12—Denny Crum built the foundation of success that the University of Louisville basketball program enjoyed for three decades. He coached the program to two NCAA championships and six Final Fours in his first 15 years at Louisville.
He also had a major hand in getting U of L and Kentucky on the basketball court together on a permanent basis way back in the old days. Crum beat Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall the first time they met, in an NCAA Tournament regional final in Knoxville, Tenn., of all places, and it took some heaven and earth moving to get a regular season series started eight months later.
Crum's passing this week was also a reminder of how he and Hall were bitter rivals, who became great buddies and pretty good radio partners, and that relationship showed something unexpected in how the rivalry was and is viewed.
Hall passed away in January, 2022, and he and Crum did a radio show together for more than 10 years. They became friends, sharing a love of hunting and fishing, along with tremendous amounts of knowledge of college basketball, although their styles were vastly different.
They were photographed together in the seats at Rupp Arena, watching a KHSAA State Tournament game in 2004, with Crum in a red jacket and Hall in a blue jacket. They were promoting the new radio show, with Hall eating popcorn out of a box held by Crum, and the photo was in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
It has become an iconic image through the years.
It was also in pretty stark contrast to how the two coaches likely viewed each other in the 1970s and '80s. Crum was young, with a California cool, who had a national championship but was looking to add to the validation of the Louisville program.
Hall at the traditional power Kentucky was having none of that new wave. It's easy to forget that Adolph Rupp had a policy of not playing instate schools.
The NCAA Tournament bracket fixed up Crum and Hall in March, 1983, and Louisville prevailed 80-68 in overtime. The teams met in the regular season in November, 1983, and has been going ever since.
It may not have been Crum's greatest accomplishment from a championship perspective, but the impact of getting the two in-state schools on the court together created a real rivalry that had lived only in the imaginations of fans on both sides of the Red and Blue debate.
And Crum was able to force the game because he was building a program that was good enough to spark the debate, and turn that emotion into a true Dream Game.
Crum and his relentless personality pushed UK into an annual series that the Wildcats tried to avoid at all costs.
Crum became a fierce rival of Hall's, then the pair developed a lasting friendship and a wonderful radio show after Crum stopped coaching in 2001.
That their paths intertwined have benefitted Kentucky and Louisville fans forever.
