Terry Hutchens, the unflappable sports reporter known as "Hutch" who had a quick wit, big heart and unwavering knowledge of all things Indiana University sports, has died according to the Anderson Herald Bulletin.

Hutchens, 60, had been hospitalized in critical condition after a car accident Monday night in Fishers. He died Friday. He is survived by his wife, Susan, his mother, Dena, sister Kelly and sons Bryan and Kevin.

Hutchens, who spent nearly 28 years as a reporter first at the Indianapolis News and then IndyStar until 2013, was the IU beat writer for CNHI Sports Indiana. His work was syndicated in 13 Indiana newspapers and Hutchens was the author of 11 books, 10 of them about IU sports.

He was Indiana Sportswriter of the Year five times.

Hutchens was best known for his work covering IU for 15 years at the state's largest newspaper — including chronicling the end of the Bob Knight era in 2000 and the late IU football coach Terry Hoeppner's brief battle with brain cancer.

Hutchens launched his career with the Indianapolis News in July 1986.

He started as a general assignment reporter, but always gravitated to sports, covering the White River Park State Games, high school sports, racing and the Pan Am Games. He covered Wrestlemania VIII in 1992, an event that was a huge deal for the city at the time.

In 1991, he took over the Colts beat and then seven years later became IndyStar's IU beat writer. Before he left in 2013 to work for Scout.com, Hutchens wrote a hefty article detailing the top 50 players in IU basketball history.

His connection with IU sports was remarkable considering he grew up in southern California and lived there until he was 28.

"For a Californian, he was amazingly immersed in IU sports culture," said David Woods, IndyStar sports writer who worked with Hutchens from 1994 to 2013. "He studied it, he learned it, he lived it. He understood it."

Bill Benner, who covered IU as a sports columnist at IndyStar, said he was often impressed with Hutchens' mastery of the Hoosiers beat.

"I grew up watching IU basketball," Benner said. "Yet, I learned a lot about IU basketball that I didn’t know through Terry."

Hutchens was called fair and one of the "good guys" by coaches and players on his beat, including IU basketball coach Archie Miller, who wrote that he "really appreciated how (Hutchens) treated us and covered us."

Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter called Hutchens "an outstanding writer and a great person."

Those who met "Hutch" didn't soon forget him. He had a quirky and endearing way of getting what he wanted from sources, said Don Fischer, the longtime radio voice of IU basketball and football.

"He might make a smart aleck comment or make a dig or say something outlandish just to see if you'll bite on it," Fischer said. "Then he starts laughing and he tells you what he is after. Now, you're caught."

Time and time again, Fischer heard those just getting to know Hutchens in Bloomington refer to him as Inspector Clouseau or Columbo.

"He was really sharp in that regard," he said, "digging as a reporter."

Behind the scenes and outside of journalism, Hutchens quietly and without fanfare was making a difference in other ways.

"He wasn't just a journalist," said Woods. "He was a lot more than that."

Todd Leary, who played basketball for IU from 1989 to 1994 and later was a radio color commentator for the team, said Hutchens was a beloved friend who was there for him at his darkest time.

Leary, who spent a year in prison after pleading guilty to misappropriation of escrow funds, said Hutchens went through a background check so he could visit Leary in prison. Once approved, visitors were allowed to come every two weeks.

"I will tell you Terry never missed a two-week appointment, did not miss one two-week appointment that entire year. It was incredible," Leary said. "He wasn't doing it to write a story, he never wrote anything. He wasn't doing it for gain. He was just truly being a friend."

Every visit, Hutchens would show up with $20 worth of quarters. Inmates were allowed to get food from the vending machines when they had visitors.

"I would eat about eight hamburgers and six Cokes every time he came," Leary said. Hutchens joked with Leary that he kept track of all the quarters he was owed, but he never asked to be paid back.

People Hutchens knew weren't the only recipients of his good deeds. He'd go out of his way for strangers, too.

A few years ago, as he listened to the Indianapolis sports radio show Query & Schultz, Hutchens heard co-host Jake Query mention a group that worked with disadvantaged boys.

"The first call I received was from Hutch, asking how he could get involved," Query said. "In the middle of the basketball season, his busiest time, he wanted to find out how he could help kids in Indianapolis. That always stuck with me."

Hutchens was an old-school journalist, said Mike Chappell, now with FOX59 and CBS4. Chappell covered the Colts for IndyStar at the same time Hutchens covered the team for the News.

"He was the consummate reporter. He loved what he did," Chappell said. "I always thought he was one of those guys that would do it as long as they would let him do it."

When young writers asked for help, Hutchens was the first to say yes. He invited them to shadow him as he covered his beat.

"He sort of gives you the gruff exterior," Chappell said, "but he was not that way at all."

Once Hutchens met someone, they were immediately a friend, and Hutchens had too many to count. Chappell remembers nights in Hutchens' basement with 50 or 60 guys playing poker -- one of Hutchens' great loves. He often traveled to the see the World Series of Poker.

Hutchens grew up in southern California, a young boy who became enamored with UCLA basketball legends John Wooden and Bill Walton. By middle school, he knew what he wanted to be — a sportswriter.

After graduating from high school in Yorba Linda, he studied journalism at California State University, Fullerton. While in college, he covered high school sports for the Fullerton Daily News Tribune. When he was 28, Hutchens came to Indiana, starting on the path that would lead to his cherished Hoosiers beat

Woods recalls the sensitivity Hutchens displayed in covering IU football coach Hoeppner, who led the team in 2005 and 2006. Shortly after revealing he would be on medical leave for the 2007 season, Hoeppner died of brain cancer.

When Hutchens went to the family's home, a notebook and tape recorder in hand, he was prepared to write the story. But as he spoke to Hoeppner's wife, Jane, and listened to the stories of her beloved husband, Hutchens didn't take one note.

"Something changed when I walked through their door. It was the most interesting experience I believe I’ve ever had as a journalist," Hutchens wrote in 2017. "Yes, I was a reporter and I was there to do a job, but in that moment when I stepped into their living room and sat on the couch across from Jane Hoeppner, I felt like I was there as her friend first. My notebook and tape recorder never once left my pocket."

As he headed back to Assembly Hall without a story, Hutchens wasn't sure what to do. Later that evening, he went back to the Hoeppner home and spent hours talking to the coach's son, Drew. That story Hutchens wrote for IndyStar won numerous awards. He later wrote a book on Hoeppner.

Even with his huge heart, Hutchens would never pass up making a good wisecrack.

"He had a wonderful sense of humor and was very clever and very funny," Woods said, "even if you were the butt of his jokes, as I was sometimes."

Topping all of that for Hutchens, though, was a deep faith, said Benner, who attended the Holy Spirit Parish at Geist with Hutchens.

Hutchens was in the choir and had a beautiful voice that most in his professional world didn't know about. He played parts in Nativity recreations. He was in church plays.

"He was a wonderful husband, a wonderful father and he lived his faith," Benner said. "Terry was a gentle person, a gentle man."

In one of his last columns, published on Dec. 12, about the death of former IU basketball player Eric Anderson and five other IU players who had died, Hutchens wrote:

"The point is here are six names of former Indiana basketball players that most die-hard IU fans would recognize. And six men who have left this Earth sometime between the age of 28 and 52. I just think it’s sad."

"And we are sad," said Benner. "It's just sad."

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @Dana Benbow. Reach her via e-mail: dbenbow@indystar.com.