Mike Crump, the funny, popular and bluntly honest boys basketball coach at Wadleigh Secondary School in Harlem, died Saturday night at the age of 44, assistant coach and close friend Joe Hunter told The Post.
Hunter said Crump suffered from a brain aneurysm.
Crump was a dean at the school and a competitive poker player who would often take trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas for vacation. He turned Wadleigh into a winner, winning six straight Manhattan borough titles before the run was snapped last February and won a regular season division title in each of his nine full seasons.
Wadleigh reached the PSAL Class AA quarterfinals five times, but was never able to get over the hump and into the league’s Final Four.
“He was more than a coach — he was a father figure,” said former player Trivante Bloodman, now a junior guard at Mississippi State. “I’m speechless. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be at this level right now.
“It’s just shocking. I still haven’t slept since [Saturday] night.”
More than his on-court accomplishments, Hunter remembered Crump as Harlem’s Father Flanagan, a coach who would welcome troubled kids to his program and help anyone who needed assistance, taking money out of his pocket for his players.
“That dude had a heart of gold,” Hunter said in a telephone interview, his voice cracking. “As far as Harlem, he’s the unmatched king of basketball. His legacy is that of winning and that of success. The people that were brought to him, many were special cases, and 70 percent, 80 percent were positive outcomes.
“He’s just the man when it comes to Harlem.”
Crump’s abrupt passing shocked the local basketball community, where he was a fixture. He hosted a Christmas tournament at Wadleigh and was a favorite among reporters because of his quick wit and shooting from the hip style. His team was the subject of a two-part documentary, titled “Nothing but Net” in the spring of 2012 on MTV2 in tandem with Douglass High School from Oklahoma City, in part because of Crump’s outsized personality.
He coached his team’s game against rival Wings Academy Friday night, suffering a disappointing loss, and was his typical jovial and self-deprecating self afterward, witnesses said. He was with his team at practice Saturday afternoon.
“He was passionate about going forward and trying to make a real run this year,” said Hunter, who expects to take over the team for the rest of the season. “The loss to Wings was kind of upsetting. We always use those statement games to move forward going into the playoffs. Other than that, he was the same old Crump.”
He sent numerous players to college, including Boston University junior forward Malik Thomas, South Dakota senior guard Karim Rowson and Bloodman.
“It’s crazy,” Bloodman said. “He came to my game against UNLV. He was motivating me, telling me how good I was. Now he’s gone. I couldn’t believe it. There was no sign of anything was wrong.”
Arrangements have yet to be made. Crump is survived by a son, Mike Crump Jr., 19.