William F. "Bill" Dunbar graduated from John Marshall High in 1950, went to work at a Richmond bank, and played on the employees' softball team.
After a year and a half at the bank, Dunbar enrolled at the University of Richmond. Because he was no longer on the bank's payroll, Dunbar lost softball eligibility. He was asked to keep the team's scorebook and accepted.
Now 76, Dunbar still keeps a scorebook.
His run as UR's official scorer for home basketball games continues tonight, when the Spiders (11-9, 2-3 A-10) play Fordham (8-10, 1-4). In his black-and-white vertically striped shirt and black dress pants, Dunbar has occupied his current hoops position for about a decade, which skims the surface of his 46 years of statistical service to UR athletics.
Except for 1979-81, when his job took him to Ohio, Dunbar has worked at the scorer's table at UR home basketball games in some capacity since 1963. Additionally, Dunbar has been part of the stats crew for UR home football games since 1975, other than his time in Ohio.
In the early 1960s, the Spiders played at The Arena, a facility that used to stand at the current location of Sports Backers Stadium, behind The Diamond's right-field wall. Three men kept statistics. One worked with Dunbar at the Reynolds Metals Company. Dunbar's colleague was transferred to Norfolk, and he asked Dunbar to fill his slot at UR games.
"I said, 'I've kept score, but I've never kept stats,' " said Dunbar, an avid fan of football, baseball and basketball teams while growing up in Richmond. "He said, 'We'll teach you.' "
Dunbar began recording rebounds, steals and assists, a fitting avocation for this mathematically inclined guy who graduated from UR in 1955.
"I do better with numbers than I do with words," said Dunbar, who worked in production and inventory control at Reynolds for 34 years.
Officially, Dunbar is a seasonal employee of the UR athletic department, paid with four season tickets in basketball, and, in recent years, compensated in football via check on a per-game basis. UR preserves as many tickets as possible for fans in 8,700-seat Robins Stadium, which opened in 2010.
Unofficially, he is the go-to guy for those with questions regarding UR athletics history, particularly basketball. His list of the finest five Spiders since 1963 includes four big scorers — forward John Newman, guard Kevin Anderson, forward Justin Harper and forward Bob McCurdy — as well as pass-first point guard Greg Beckwith, who had a marvelous knack of knowing how to control a game's tempo, in Dunbar's view.
When the Spiders play football or basketball on the road, Dunbar sometimes makes the trip. Otherwise, he watches televised games or listens to radio broadcasts.
Dunbar was an A student in math at UR, and he majored in accounting. Not long ago, he filled out a medical form that left a space for outside interests. Dunbar wrote "income taxes." His new physician seemed amused and requested additional details about this unusual entry.
Dunbar explained that following his retirement from Reynolds Metals in 1991, he began working December to May as a tax preparer. To him, it's fun.
"I enjoy numbers," Dunbar said.
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