Archie Dees, a dominant figure in Indiana basketball in the 1950s who had the spirit to still connect with current players, died today.

Dees was 80.

He passed away at 4:41 a.m., according to a note his daughter, Lori Dees Johnson, posted on Facebook.

A 6-foot-8 forward/center, Dees was an All-American in 1956-57 and 1957-58 and also was named the Big Ten MVP those two seasons, the first player to win Big Ten MVP in consecutive seasons.

To this day, the only players to be Big Ten MVP in consecutive seasons are Dees, Jerry Lucas of Ohio State and Scott May of Indiana.

"Our condolences go out to Archie's family and all of his friends," Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “Archie Dees will be remembered for many great things and being a part of Indiana Basketball Royalty will be one of them.

“When Archie was around, we always knew we were around one of the all-time best."

Playing in the days when freshmen were ineligible, Dees averaged 17.4 points as a sophomore, 25.0 points and 14.4 rebounds as a junior then 25.5 points and 14.4 rebounds as a senior in 1957-58.

He led Indiana to Big Ten titles his final two years in college.

In Big Ten play as a junior, Dees averaged 25.4 points, led the league in scoring and received almost as many league MVP votes as all other players combined.

His overall scoring average of 25.5 points per game as a senior remains fourth-best in Indiana basketball history.

Dees is 15th all-time in scoring at Indiana with 1,546 career points and his career scoring average of 22.7 points per game is third all-time at Indiana behind George McGinnis (29.9) and Don Schlundt (23.3).

Dees was inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983 and named to the IU All-Century team in 2001.

Born in Ethel, Miss., Dees became a high school star in Mt. Carmel, Ill.

He scored 2,337 career points at Mount Carmel High School, a record broken by Tyra Buss, currently a sophomore at Indiana.

Dees and Buss became close during Buss’ time at Mount Carmel and at IU.

The two became close, even doing a promotional video for the Big Ten that aired on the Big Ten Network.

“He always said that his record would be broken one day, but he didn’t think it’d be broken by a girl,” Buss said in the video, sitting next to Dees as both smiled.

“She’s going for my Hoosier records next,” Dees replies with a smile, as the two fist bump.

Here is the note his daughter, Lori Dees Johnson, posted to FaceBook:

“At 4:41 am my Dad passed away. God got a truly beautiful angel in him. As much as I will miss him I know he is in a better place. No more pain, sickness, needles, tubes, or doubt. I am happy about that at least:) I just will miss him so much! I do want to Thank all my family that was there for me around the clock today. I want to thank his Amazing Dr. Brad Bomba for all he did for my Dad. I can't say enough great things about Dr. Bomba. I also want to thank all the nurses and staff at Garden Villa for taking such good care of my dad for his time there. I could always feel at ease with him being at Garden Villa. Big thanks to the nurses and staff at IU Health Bloomington Hospital! They were AMAZING!! I also want to thank my little brother Eric Dees for being so supportive and being there every second of the horrible week. My kids have all been amazing as well. I also could not Thank my loving husband for all the love and support through all of this. He and my dad were very close so it was very rough on him as well. Again thanks to all of my FB friends for all the prayed for our family. RIP Daddy"