Joe Dean Jr., who followed in his father’s footsteps to become an SEC basketball broadcaster and who also had a successful career as a coach and athletic director, has died at the age of 71.
Dean Jr. played basketball for the Mississippi State Bulldogs under coach Kermit Davis Sr. and parlayed that into a coaching career, first as an MSU graduate assistant, then as an assistant coach at Kentucky. He was a member of the coaching staff on the 1978 national championship squad.
Dean served as head coach at Birmingham-Southern from 1983-89, putting together a 137-45 record and two trips to the NAIA Tournament. He later coached UCF from 1989-93, compiling a record of 37-73.
After that, he started broadcasting SEC games for Jefferson-Pilot Sports (later Raycom Sports) and Fox Sports, as well as the SEC Network, often working alongside Tim Brando. He popularized the catchphrase “string music,” which was also a tribute to his father, Joe Dean Sr., who was also an SEC broadcaster.
“Joe Jr. was a walking talking memorial to his legendary father, and he loved that,” Brando wrote in an X post. “Now, he’s done suffering and is with his best friend ‘Mr. String Music’ for eternity. We shared some awesome moments together covering SEC basketball.”
As news of Dean Jr.’s passing spread, tributes started pouring across social media from his peers, coworkers, and friends.
Truly devastated just hearing the news in the last couple of hours about the death of @joedeanjr who spent the better part of 20 years with me calling @SEC 🏀. The former @HailStateMBK player and former Grad Asst. after graduation later joined Joe B. Hall’s staff @KentuckyMBB as… pic.twitter.com/3DjdCkAH3m
— Tim Brando (@TimBrando) August 16, 2026
RIP to @joedeanjr, who along with his father, called many UK games of my youth and was the voice of some great UK Basketball moments on Jefferson Pilot pic.twitter.com/pUt3LXGb8L
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) August 17, 2026
Like you Timmy B, Joe Dean was a class act and an important part of the SEC. He was so proud to see us become a great basketball conference. I hope he knew how much he was appreciated. The game missed him, I will miss him! @SEC https://t.co/qWVv8v1yvQ
— Bruce Pearl (@coachbrucepearl) August 17, 2026
Our heart brakes with the news of Joe Dean Jr’s passing! Joe was one of Dad’s all time favorite players/ coaches / friends. All the good times @ Dixie and the Derby! Playing a little String Music with Big Joe today❤️🏀🙏 pic.twitter.com/Cq9topDfK8
— Kermit Davis (@kermitdavisjr) August 17, 2026
RIP Joe Dean Jr. I remember these broadcasts well.
Back in the early days of DirecTV, you could only get the regional games from
other conferences if you bought the ESPN Full Court package which gave us all the out of market games like SEC on Raycom/Jefferson Pilot.Joe Dean… https://t.co/7uewTKjDU3
— Wes Reynolds (@WesReynolds1) August 17, 2026
As @TimBrando noted yesterday, this was a monumental moment in SEC hoops history, and a masterclass in broadcasting by Tim and Joe Dean, Jr. Joe will always be remembered fondly by so many, including me. #StringMusic #RIP https://t.co/BFmk8VNCsd
— Brad Logan (@BradLoganTOC) August 17, 2026
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.