BATON ROUGE, La. -- Joe Dean, a former LSU basketball star and later the university's athletic director, died Sunday at age 83.
Dean, whose death in Baton Rouge was confirmed by LSU basketball spokesman Kent Lowe, is one of only three LSU players inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, along with Bob Pettit and Pete Maravich.
Dean, a native of New Albany, Ind., was LSU's top scorer in 1950 and '51. He became the second LSU player with 1,000 career points in 1952, when he was second on the team in scoring behind Pettit.
Dean was the athletic director at LSU for 14 years, beginning in 1987. He played a role in $50 million in facility improvements during that period, and LSU teams won 27 national championships, along with 40 Southeastern Conference titles.
From 1969 to '87, Dean was an analyst on SEC basketball broadcasts. He became known for saying, "string music," to describe the sound of a basketball swishing through the net.
He also worked as a promotional and marketing executive for Converse, clinching endorsement deals with numerous top college coaches as well as NBA stars, including Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird.
Dean, who was preceded in death by his longtime wife, Doris, is survived by his three children: Joe Jr., Mardi and Mark; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
