College Basketball lost an icon on Tuesday morning as the legendary Denny Crum passed away at 86. Coach Crum was an icon that gave so much to basketball. Coach Crum was the former Head Coach at Louisville; he led his beloved Cardinals to two National Championships and six Final Fours.

To many, Coach Crum was a guy you respected but loved to beat on the court. Coach Crum was the guy that won a lot at his school but did so much for the game of basketball. He was a gentleman; who loved Louisville Basketball.

Until the last few years, Coach Crum would host a radio show with his good friend and former Kentucky Basketball Coach, Joe B. Hall. That show was wildly popular in basketball circles across the world. Debuting in 2004, the Joe B and Denny Show would provide fans of Kentucky and Louisville somewhere to come together as one with a similar love of basketball. Coach Hall and Coach Crum would give a generation of fans unparallel knowledge of the game of basketball. When it ended in 2014, many people across the Bluegrass lost two voices that became a crucial part of the rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville.

Growing up in a split family that supported Memphis and Kentucky, I always respected Coach Crum but; loved to hear the stories of Memphis State and Kentucky beating his Louisville Cardinals. Although Coach Crum would retire in 2001, his impact on the game was something I will forever cherish. I don’t remember watching his Louisville Cardinals play. As I grew older and my love for the game of College Basketball grew, the more I admired from afar what Coach Crum did for the sport I love. Sure, you loved to beat him, but Coach Crum was a John Wooden discipline who demanded perfection from his teams. His legacy will live forever across College Basketball. Coach Denny Crum will forever be a Coach that gave back to the sport in ways indescribable by words alone.

Coach Crum, thank you for the memories. Thank you for what you did for college basketball for generations to come.