About

Jim Dabbelt Bio

Jim Dabbelt is a lifelong resident of the Miami Valley, having been born in Dayton, and raised in the northern community of Tipp City. He began his career in basketball during his prep career, as a member of the Tippecanoe High School girls basketball staff, enjoying a trip to the Ohio state finals during his senior year of 1986.
Upon graduation, Jim began his basketball promoting duties as a free lance contributor to the Tipp City Herald for a few years, and in 1989, he began his AAU girls basketball career.
Following that season, Jim joined the staff as an assistant coach with the Logan AAU basketball team, which won the Ohio AAU state championship at nearby Miami East High School, near Dabbelt’s hometown. A noted member of that team was Katie Smith, a 1992 Logan High School graduate, who went on to play at Ohio State University, and earned two gold medals as a member of the US Olympic women’s basketball team.
In 1990, Jim created the Tipp City AAU organization, where he served as president and head coach for six years. Included in that run were two championships at the prestigious TAKE/ABC Summer Classic.
In 1992, the Ohio Girls Basketball Update was created by Jim, focusing on the top girls basketball players in Ohio. During that time, Jim was the sole girls basketball writer for the Ohio High School Basketall Magazine, while contributing information to publications such as the USA Today, Dick Vitale’s publication, and Street and Smith.
While he stepped away from coaching in 1996, he remained active in the girls basketball community via the opportunity to promote the premiere players. He remained in this capacity until 2005, when he returned to coaching with the nation’s premiere AAU organization, the Dayton Lady Hoopstars.
In 2003, Jim created and directed The Dabbelt Report, a website which quickly became a household name for all girls basketball players, coaches and fans in Southwest Ohio. The website was generally considered the premiere girls basketball site in Ohio. During it’s three year tenure, The Dabbelt Report generated over four million hits.
Now in 2009, The Dabbelt Report has become nationally considered the premiere girls basketball website in Ohio.