Hall of Fame
Doyle Dingler, a native of Snyder, Ark., in Ashley County, moved to Magnolia in 1937, and graduated from Magnolia High School in 1938. He came to Magnolia A&M College (now Southern Arkansas University) in 1947 and graduated in 1949.
Dingler loved sports, and began keeping the clock in 1946 for football and basketball games when Elmer Smith was in charge of both sports at SAU. He also was timekeeper for basketball tournaments held at the university, both high school and college.
As a timekeeper, Dingler said, “I enjoy what I’m doing, and I enjoy seeing people.” During his keeping of the clock, he viewed the SAU coaching tenures of Elmer Smith, Auburn Smith, Raymond (Rip) Powell, Sam Goodwin, Steve Arnett, Jim (Red) Parker, Rob Hicklin, Don Tumey, Steve Roberts, and John Bland in football, and Elmer Smith, P.T. “Duddy” Waller, Delwin Ross, W.T. Watson, Monroe Ingram, Bert West, and Brian Daugherty in basketball. He kept the clock when Charles Overstreet was the university president in the 1940’s, and when basketball was played in the old National Guard Armory. He watched NBA superstars Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman play ball in the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.
Dingler took pride in keeping the clock, and paid special attention to action on the field and court. “My thing was, I did not want to cheat anyone out of a second”, he stated.
