Dinges completes trek to Hall of Fame

"I’m not kidding you when I say that I slept in those all the time,” Dinges said. "My mom, she was like, ‘What are you doing?’ My kindergarten teacher, she always tells my mom, I dressed really cute until I got those shoes.”

Standing in front of lifelong friends, former coaches, supporters and family, the story of Dinges’ shoes was her entry point as she reeled off 3 1/2 minutes of gratitude during her induction into the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame last week.

"It wasn’t hard to write, I don’t think,” Dinges said of her acceptance speech. "It’s a matter of what I was going to write about. I knew who I wanted to mention. I had 3 1/2 minutes. I really wanted to thank my parents.”

Dinges, now the head girls’ basketball coach at San Mateo High School, was one of 10 new inductees after a spectacular career at Hillsdale High School and University of the Pacific. Since leaving the Tigers team as the Big West Conference’s second-most prolific 3-point shooter and arriving on the San Mateo campus four seasons ago, Dinges has led the Bearcats to a 56-50 record including a 24-15 mark in Peninsula Athletic League play.

But last week, she wasn’t honored for her merits as coach — those who remember her in the red and baby blue know Dinges had some serious game.

Dinges graduated Hillsdale in 2000, hitting 315 3-pointers during her high school career and garnering San Mateo County Player of the Year honors her senior season. She earned a scholarship to University of Pacific where she culminated an impressive playing career. Last Wednesday, Dinges chose to shine the spotlight on the two people who got her into her first pair of basketball sneakers and put a ball in her hands.

"My dad was my coach from the beginning,” Dinges said. "He has been so special to me in this whole process of my career and now being a coach. No matter what, he’s always been there for me. So has my mom. But my dad had the basketball knowledge. My mom has been just as supportive — always going to games, always pushing me. She’s the one that always drove me to the basketball games. She was just as supportive off the court as well.”

It’s support that included three-hour summer practices, post-game pep talks and shootarounds, goal-setting sessions before taking to the court in the sixth grade or leniency when arriving late to dinner following workouts that went a little too long.

Dinges said her parents continue to support her today — in fact, it was mother Dinges who spread the word about daughter Dinges’ induction into the Hall.

"I’m pretty humble with everything,” Dinges said. "It took my mom to post it on Facebook for everyone to know. I’m a very private person, I guess. I didn’t really tell a lot of people about it until my mom started telling a bunch of people. And, it’s such an honor, and I’m definitely honored to be with the inductees. It was so great to be a part of that because of the people. It’s amazing.”

Dinges’ parents can still be spotted today as she roams the sideline at San Mateo.

"I always knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to coach,” Dinges said of her first four seasons as a Bearcat. "I want to give back what a lot of people gave to me, which is opportunity — opportunity and encouragement.

"Being in the coach’s scene is totally different than being a player,” she said. "As a player, you kind of have tunnel vision and you don’t really appreciate your coaches until after. And you don’t see your coaches watching film all the time, or breaking down plays or scouting teams. I try to show my players ... I’m a player as well and I can teach you. I want to teach my players as much as I can because I can show them how to do things.”

Dinges’ passion for her athletes and basketball is still in full swing, spending crucial open gym time during the summer with sights set on a new season of Bearcat basketball.

"My goal is to be consistent,” Dinges said of her immediate goals, post Hall-of-Fame status. "Every year we’ve done well and I think every year, in this next year, I’m looking to get better because our teams have gotten better.

"You can reminisce on the past and remember each year, but looking to next year, I don’t see why we can’t be one of the top teams. As a coach, it’s really great to see the players develop as people and as players now. It’s amazing to see the students develop as basketball players.”