Thought this was an interesting tidbit about Denny Crum trying to recruit Larry Bird to Louisville.
http://louisville.edu/ur/ucomm/mags/spring2007/crum.htmlRecruiting "Larry Legend"
Some Cardinal fans think the story of Crum's attempt to recruit Bird is folklore—maybe even an urban legend. But most of it is true, the coach says. By all accounts, Crum was just about unbeatable in HORSE—the classic backyard shooting contest where a player must match their opponent shot for shot. Crum always challenged his incoming freshmen to a game.
"I beat every freshman that ever came in here," he grins. "But most of the time after I beat them, I wouldn't play them again, because every day they're going to be doing shooting drills and getting better and better. And I don't have time to do that stuff."
Crum's most effective shot was his patented 40-footer from the side, behind the backboard—an impossible angle from way out of bounds.
"It's got to be perfect. And you have to have the perfect arch to get it over the corner of the board and still be going down."
The coach was automatic from either corner. He could also hook the ball with either hand—a must in HORSE. On top of that, Crum also had anywhere-in-the-gym range.
His secret?
"I worked on a weight thing where you would take a broom handle and a rope and tie weights on the bottom, and I stand up on a bench and roll that rope around that stick," Crum recalls. "It developed my wrists and forearms.
"I didn't care where they put me. It didn't matter. I could shoot from way outside—much farther than most of them could."
In 1974, Larry Bird was a highly recruited high school basketball star from French Lick, Ind. Crum had watched a couple of his games and really wanted Bird to consider Louisville.
"When I sat down to talk to him, he told us that he had already decided that he was going to Indiana," Crum recalls. "I thought maybe if he came to visit he might really like it, so I invited him to make a trip to Louisville."
But Bird insisted that he was committed to Indiana University, and he wasn't going to make any other visits.
"I said, 'Well, let's play a game of HORSE. If I beat you, you come for a visit. If you beat me, you don't have to come.' He said, 'OK.' "
Bird started by hitting a left-handed hook, which Crum was able to match. Then Bird missed his next shot and Crum made another left-handed hook. But Bird matched that.
"Then I tried a different shot and I missed," says Crum, borrowing a notebook and pen. "And then [pointing to a quickly drawn half-court diagram] he got way out here. He was way out there. Here's the mid-court line right here. They had another line right here. If this was the mid-court line right here, you actually had another line here. He would just back way out up here and just bury them. Well, I could hardly see the rim."
Here's where Crum's competitive juices simmer up:
"There were about eight lights out in that little gym and the rim was gray—metallic gray. There was no paint left on it. It had all been knocked off over the years. You could hardly see it.
"I had no shot. I had no shot of out-shooting him in that gym. Whether I could or not in a regular gym, I don't know. But I think I would have done a whole lot better.
"Well, he obviously didn't have to come visit."
Topic: Larry Bird H-O-R-S-E recruiting story. (Read 8079 times)