CLAIM TO FAME: Known for his fastbreak, run-and-gun offenses, Dyles coached the Gibbs High boys basketball team and retired in 1993 with a lifetime record of 674-236, which made him the winningest boys coach in Florida of his time.
Gladiators games were the place to be during his tenure, often drawing 10,000 fans a night.
Dyles, who graduated from Gibbs in 1951, served in the Army from 1954 to 1957 before enrolling at Florida A&M University, where he won All-America honors.
With degree in hand, he returned to St. Petersburg to teach at what was then 16th Street Junior High.
In 1964, Dyles joined Gibbs as a teacher and a coach. During his first two seasons, Dyles coached Gibbs in the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association, the sanctioning organization for the state's black schools. That year it became the first all-black school to compete in the Florida High Schools Athletic Association. Pinellas integrated its schools in 1972.
His Gladiators won the FIAA state title and finished third in the national tournament in 1966, then won the FHSAA title the next year, the first season of integrated play.
Besides coaching at Gibbs, Dyles worked in a recreational basketball program at Campbell Park.
Dyles, an avid fisherman, was a trustee of Moore's Chapel AME Church in St. Petersburg.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: "Coach was a nice guy who put a lot of his time into the community. Everybody else's kids were his kids. He was one of the more prominent, well-known individuals in the area. I know Coach Dyles had a lot to do with my success and provided a lot of guidance for me."
- Lakewood coach Dan Wright, who played for Dyles from 1969-72.
DID YOU KNOW?: Before joining Gibbs, Dyles directed the 16th Street basketball team and led the boys program to 96 straight wins and three junior high school state titles in three years (1961-63).
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: Dyles, who was Gibbs basketball coach almost 30 years before retiring, died June 18, 1999, at home of natural causes. He was 66. He is survived by his wife, Vermieh; a stepson, Virgil Harrington; and a stepdaughter, Veronica M. Harrington, all of St. Petersburg.
WORDS TO LIVE BY: "I've been in basketball so long - playing in school, in college and then coaching - you just can't walk away from all that. It will be a task, being without it." - Dyles said at his retirement party in 1993.
