Starr Roberts was 8 years old when she put marker to poster board before heading off to Freedom Hall for Denny Crum's last game as the head coach of the Louisville men's basketball program.

"No one will EVER replace Denny!" the sign reads. "We love you."

On Monday night, nearly a week after learning of Crum's death at age 86 and crying on the phone with her father, Roberts dug the sign out of a closet and stood holding it outside of the KFC Yum! Center with her family before a celebration of Crum's life ceremony on the court bearing his signature.

Twenty-two years later, the sentiment behind her message hasn't changed, especially after she received money from the Denny Crum Scholarship Fund to attend U of L and earn her Master's degree on her journey to becoming a teacher.

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"He is such a fixture here in the community," said Roberts, who is in her third year teaching Spanish at Doss High School, "due to his service and just being a wonderful person."

Crum the coach was defined by winning — 675 victories in 30 years at the helm, six trips to the Final Four and two national championships. The Hall of Famer was so competitive, former player Roger Burkman said, he once had a group of ex-Cardinals participating in a charity bocce ball tournament with him show up hours before the event so they could practice together.

But Crum was also a man of the people whose impact transcended what transpired on the court through the scholarship fund that furthered Roberts' dreams and his philanthropic support of the Mattingly Center (formerly known as the Cerebral Palsy School of Louisville), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Boy Scouts of Kentucky and other organizations. The San Fernando, California, native stuck around long after elevating the U of L basketball program to new heights, making Louisville his adopted hometown, and on Monday it was time for the city to return the favor.

After Crum's funeral at Southeast Christian Church and his burial at Cave Hill Cemetery, the doors of the Yum! Center opened for family, friends, former players and colleagues and hundreds of U of L fans to laugh, cry and reminisce.

"(Crum's death hit me) like an earthquake; but at the same time, I got enough memories and enough joy," said Larry Bishop, a lifelong supporter from the Newburg area who sat in his wheelchair outside the Yum! Center holding a framed picture of Freedom Hall autographed by Crum and other U of L greats. "As long as we talk University of Louisville basketball, you can never go without mentioning Denny Crum."

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Bishop, like others who attended Monday's festivities, has stories of meeting Crum around town. Southeast Christian's senior pastor, Bob Russell, said churchgoers used to do double takes when the Hall of Famer ushered them to their seats in the sanctuary on Sundays. He attributed the coach's approachability to being "very confident but not arrogant."

Kicking off the celebration of life Monday evening, longtime radio play-by-play announcer Paul Rogers put it this way: "He was a superstar, but he was also a great Average Joe."

"He was an individual who treated you like you were an equal," said Jerry Jones, Crum's longtime assistant, during Monday's funeral. "I don't care where you came from, what color you were or anything else — he treated you like an important individual.

"He was always one of us. I think all of us here are better because we knew Denny Crum and what he stood for."

Crum's wife, Susan Sweeney Crum, said during her speech her husband was "a little bit of an introvert in a lot of ways. He liked to party, but he didn't want to be the center of attention."

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But he always had time. Roberts, who got to attend Crum's 80th birthday party as a representative of his scholarship fund, said he didn't shy away from signing autographs, even when the group grew in size.

"Whatever he was to you personally, I'm thankful that you're here, and I appreciate you coming to celebrate," Sweeney Crum told the Yum! Center crowd. "He did appreciate each and every one of you all who came to all his games and supported him all these years and helped make him as successful as he was.

"He was my husband, but he was all of ours. He belonged to this whole community."

In addition to his wife, Crum is survived by three children, Cynthia, Steve and Scott; two sisters, Juanita Whitson and Sharann Watson; a brother, Terry Turner; and three grandchildren, Austin Abney, Candra Abney and Lena Crum.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Denny Crum memorial: Louisville basketball community celebrates coach