Terry Hutchens 

BLOOMINGTON — CNHI Sports Indiana’s Terry Hutchens was honored with a video, a moment of silence and a nice ovation from the 14,975 Indiana fans at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall prior to Saturday’s tipoff against Jacksonville.

Hutchens, who had covered Indiana basketball for the past two decades for the Indianapolis Star then CNHI, passed away Friday following an automobile accident near Fishers on Monday evening.

Earlier in the week, Indiana coach Archie Miller called Hutchens “a terrific person.”

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family right now,” Miller said. “It’s just really, really hard to take in.”

The five-time Indiana Sportswriter of the Year was 60 years old.

Hutchens remembered 

Hutchens, 60, had been in critical condition at Community Hospital North since Monday night. He was transported there after being involved in a three-car accident on 116th Street near Interstate 69 in Fishers.

An accident report from the Fishers Police Department indicated that Hutchens suffered the stroke before his car struck the rear of another car, pushing it into the rear of a third car. The drivers of the other cars were not seriously injured, the police report indicated.

Hutchens had covered IU basketball and football, as well as other sports of statewide and national interest, since 2016 for The Herald Bulletin and CNHI Sports Indiana, a collaborative effort of 13 Hoosier newspapers owned by CNHI.

“When I learned there would be an IU beat for CNHI Sports Indiana, Terry was the only name that sprang to mind,” said George Bremer, sports editor of The Herald Bulletin and editor of CNHI Sports Indiana. “I knew he was the most respected writer on the Hoosiers’ beat.”

Hutchens was a graduate of the IU School of Journalism. He covered the Indianapolis Colts for the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, then worked for the Indianapolis News and later the Indianapolis Star for a total of 27 years, covering IU basketball and football much of that time.

A five-time recipient of the Indiana Sports Writer of the Year Award from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, Hutchens also wrote nine books about Indiana sports.

His friends and colleagues remembered him Friday for his professionalism, as well as his personality and sense of humor.

“Hutch was as old-school as it got from a media standpoint,” said Mike Chappell, who worked with Hutchens at the Indianapolis Star. “He put in the hours, did his reporting, filed his stories. He was dedicated to whatever beat he was on: Colts, IU, whatever.”

Phillip B. Wilson, a close friend of Hutchens and colleague from the Indianapolis News and Indianapolis Star, remembered Hutchens for his “keep-you-on-your-toes, wise-cracking personality.”

Wilson described Hutchens as a “family man, great friend, dedicated journalist, Indiana University sports expert, book author, college professor, avid poker player and golf duffer.

“Speaking for those closest to him, our world won’t be the same without his hilarious wit,” Wilson said.

“Terry’s dry wit and unmatched generosity are what I will remember him for most,” Bremer said. “He would have been a legend for those qualities even if he’d never written a word.”

Hutchens and his wife, Susan, have two adult sons. 

Greg Mengelt contributed to this report