Dillard recounts career for Arkansas Sports Club

Joe Dillard overcame a number of obstacles on his way to a 462-win basketball-coaching career, and he reiterated a few of those and the lessons learned Monday for the Arkansas Sports Club at Ryan's.

"If I had it to do over, I'd probably do the same thing," said Dillard, whose appearance kicked off the fourth year of the ASC. "I tried to teach (his players) to respect authority. I stressed that time and again.

"I stressed don't be average because when you're there you're just as close to the bottom as you are to the top. I stressed character; bad company corrupts good morals. I was concerned about the game of basketball and winning ball games, but I was also concerned about the game of life.

"The first priority is a strong relationship with the Lord. Otherwise, there's a void there."

Dillard said he had "humble beginnings." He was born in Yellville; his mother died when he was 3, and his father decided to have Dillard's older sister, who was 20 and married, raise the toddler. His brother-in-law/father figure taught school at a number of small schools around North Arkansas, and young Joe attended eight schools during his first nine years of education.

He remembered first being exposed to basketball, a game that would become a lifelong love, at Omaha. He was excited to get to spend his eighth-grade year at Harrison, where he looked forward to playing for the Goblins, but his basketball career there lasted just three days before he was cut.

It marked "one of the lowest points of my life to that point," he said.

But that low point taught him lessons later.

After his brother-in-law was drafted for World War II, Dillard and his sister joined their father in Marshall, where he continued to hone his game. In those days, he remembered, there were no limits on schedules, so Marshall played "40 or 50 games."

"We won seven tournaments one year, not including the district," he said. "They didn't give trophies (because of the war-time limits on metal), but we pretty well stocked the library with dictionaries and World Book Encyclopedias. That's what they gave us for winning."

After graduating from Marshall, Dillard walked on at what was then Arkansas State Teachers College. He remembered being "in awe of the good basketball players out there. I thought I was the low man on the totem pole."

But his work ethic paid off when he got, first, some junior varsity action for the Bears, then a uniform when Coach Cecil Garrison passed out "suits," then made the travel squad. His playing time as a freshman gradually increased, and Garrison called him aside to tell him he was putting him on a half-scholarship.

In those days, those were work-scholarships.

"Coach Garrison said, 'You've got to pick up paper on campus,'" he remembered. "But he said, 'Don't overdo it.' I picked up three or four pieces while I was walking from the cafeteria to the dorm, but that was the last paper I picked up."

By the end of the season, he was a starter. Following the season, Garrison entered the Bears in the AAU state tournament, which they won, and they advanced to the national tournament in Denver, a trip Dillard remembered fondly.

Along the way, he joined the Army Reserve on campus but decided after a couple of meetings he didn't like it.

"So I quit I thought," he said, remembering that when the Korean War broke out, he got called up. After a few mishaps, he adjusted to Army life, and after his discharge, he married his girlfriend, Lou, in 1952.

His first and longest coaching job was at Yellville, from 1954-73. His team won 40 consecutive games in 1963 before losing to Lake Hamilton in the state semifinals. His junior high teams won three state championships. He spent four seasons at Greenbrier (1974-78) and finished with a career record of 462-200 (69.8 winning percentage). His '74 team at Greenbrier reached the state championship game against Earle.

He was selected three times as an Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star coach. In 1974 he coached his son, Danny, along with Marvin Delph and Ron Brewer in the all-star game.

"You'd think you couldn't lose with Marvin Delph and Ron Brewer on your team, but we got beat," he said.

Delph and Danny Dillard were on hand for Monday's meeting.

Joe Dillard was inducted into the UCA Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

The next meeting of the Arkansas Sports Club will be Feb. 9. Former Fort Smith Northside football coach Joe Fred Young will be the guest speaker. Lunch will begin at 11:30 with the program to follow at 12:05. Annual memberships in the ASC are $30.