Mount Ida resident Danny Sheets was recently inducted into the Arkansas Officials Activities (AOA) Hall of Fame in Hot Springs.
Sheets, a native of Hot Springs, has spent his life on the hardwood, as a player, coach and official. A graduate of Lake Hamilton High School, Sheets was a member of the school’s only state championship basketball team. The Wolves won the state title in 1963 in Barton Coliseum in Littile Rock, with Sheets hitting a 54 foot shot in overtime for the win.
He continued his career as a player at Ouachita Baptist University, where he played for Coach Bill Vining. He averaged 16.5 points a game and was among the conference leaders in free throw shooting. The OBU Tigers won a conference title his senior year and he made the all tournament team. He made All-AIC first team in 1969 and was selected as OBU’s outstanding physical education major that same year.
It was while he was attending OBU that he developed a love for officiating. During his senior year, Coach Buddy Benson introduced him to officiating. He joined the AOA and called games for the next 34 years.
After receiving his BSE degree, Sheets coached junior and senior high basketball at Mountain Pine from 1969-1971. The Red Devils won 13 tournaments under his tutelage. From 1971-1973 he led Central Junior High to back-to-back state basketball championships. While coaching at Central he compiled a two-year record of 56-6. Sheets was selected Coach of the Year in Area 11 for the 1970-71 season.
After completing MSE degree, Sheets chose to leave coaching and go back into the classroom. This schedule gave him more time to devote to his first love, officiating basketball games. His commitment to the game earned him respect statewide in an occupation where most are reviled by everyone from time to time.
Sheets retired in 2013 from officiating after calling the finals of the state tournament. The tournament was held at Barton Coliseum, the same facility he had played in so many years before.
Sheets’ life time hobby has been fishing. Through the years he became a frequent competitor in local, regional and national bass tournaments. After winning the Classic on Lake DeGray, he gained the title of “Mr. Bass of Arkansas” for 1978.
Sheets and his wife Carol have two daughters, Danny Kay and Jane. They have three grandsons and one granddaughter.
