Denny Crum, former University of Louisville basketball coach, gets Hometown Heroes banner on Whiskey Row

Rae Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal
·2 min read
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Beloved former University of Louisville basketball coach Denny Crum was added to the most recent class of Hometown Heroes on Sunday.

Crum was one of the original Hometown Heroes, but his banner was taken down due to construction, according to a release from Jeanne Hilt, spokesperson for the Greater Louisville Pride Foundation.

Crum coached basketball at U of L from 1971 to 2001 and built up the program throughout the 80s, leading the Cardinals to six Final Four appearances. He was also named Coach of the Year three times. Now, Crum has a new banner hanging on the Whiskey Row Lofts building across from the KFC Yum! Center Arena Plaza.

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"With the tremendous legacy Coach Crum built with the U of L Basketball Program, it seemed appropriate to unveil Denny's banners today," Mike Sheehy, president of Greater Louisville Pride Foundation and co-founder of the banner program, said in the release. "On this day when we move our clocks ahead, we, along with the entire Louisville community, will 'Spring Forward' as we anticipate the future success of the U of L basketball program."

Last year, the banner program announced several other inductees for its "Class of 2023" which will hang on buildings across the city, dubbing it "Hometown Heroes 2.0." Faces will include notable rapper Jack Harlow, actor Jennifer Lawrence and Crum's fellow Louisville Cardinal Wes Unseld.

"With the Hometown Heroes 2.0 relaunch of the popular program, we announced our two-fold mission — honor new Louisville heroes and work to refresh some of Louisville’s most iconic Hometown Heroes banners," Sheehy said.

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Hometown Heroes was founded 20 years ago when a small group of residents saw a need to "bring the community together," the release said. They believed in recognizing Louisville's "famous sons and daughters who made significant contributions far beyond Louisville's city limits" as well as back at home in the commonwealth.

Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: University of Louisville coach Denny Crum gets Hometown Heroes banner