U.S. Reed isn't far from former Louisville men's basketball coach Denny Crum's mind.
It was Reed who made a 49-footer at the buzzer to give Arkansas a 74-73 victory over Louisville in the second round of the 1981 NCAA Tournament.
Crum recalled the moment Monday afternoon at the Downtown Tip Off Club at the Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock.
"I remember U.S. Reed, in my sleep, in my dreams," Crum said. "He made the shot. We knew he was going to take the shot. We double-teamed him at midcourt. He said he threw up a prayer and it was answered. They did knock us out of the tournament that year.
"It's never a given what's going to happen in these tournaments."
During his 30-year tenure at Louisville, Crum led the Cardinals to two national championships (1980, 1986), six Final Fours (1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986) and 15 conference titles (three in the Missouri Valley Conference, 12 in the Metro Conference). He was 675-295 at Louisville and is a member of the Basketball and College Basketball halls of fame.
Crum played for and coached under John Wooden at UCLA. He was an assistant for the Bruins in 1963-1971 and was part of four national championship teams.
Wooden, who died in 2010 at age 99, was 664-162 in a 29-year coaching career with the last 27 coming at UCLA where he won 10 national championships and won 88 consecutive games during a span from 1971 to 1974.
"Coach Wooden was probably the smartest human being," Crum said. "He never forgot anything. He could remember everything. He could meet you one time somewhere and he'd remember what your name was. That's the truth. It doesn't matter who you were. If you were introduced to him, he remembered your name. He was an amazing man."
Being an assistant for Wooden was beneficial for Crum, he said.
"He had no ego," Crum said. "I never heard him talk about winning. Winning wasn't the goal. The goal was to do the best you could do. To give the best effort you could give and be the player you could be so your team could be the best it could be.
"He never talked about individuals. Everything he talked about was team. That was what he did. You asked him what he did for a living, he wouldn't tell you he coached UCLA. He would just tell you he was a coach. He was a teacher.
"That's what he did best, was teach. He was an amazing teacher."
Crum co-hosted a radio show in Louisville called The Joe B. and Denny Show with former Kentucky men's basketball coach Joe B. Hall for 10 years before it ended last year. Hall, 85, coached at Kentucky in 1972-1985, replacing Adolph Rupp.
"People thought this was crazy," Crum said. "We had a similar background. We both love to hunt. We both love to fish. We both respected each other. We didn't know each other well when we were coaching. You just don't have time for socializing. We got together and put the show together. It was a great experience. It was easy to do.
"Some people think you have to hate the other coach. It's not like that. I never met a coach I didn't like."
When he was at Louisville, Crum said he was offered three times by UCLA to become the Bruins' coach, but felt a sense of loyalty towards Louisville.
"They opened their arms to me when I came," Crum said. "I told them that we could win a national championship at Louisville. They believed me."
Sports on 01/13/2015