"Debbie enjoys the game. She was in Las Vegas and Louisville [Ky] with me. She usually handles the pressure very well, but in Louisville she was very nervous. Once it came toward the end there were a lot of things on the line. I was playing the match for the points and Shannon Daulton had already lost. This put me in a good position to win the points standings if I win my next match! I guess the score was 4 - 3 my lead and Debbie could no longer take the pressure. She actually left the building! That is the first time Debbie showed any type of nervousness at a tournament. Sometimes I can tell that she is a little uptight but I always try to look her way during a match and give her a smile, just to let her know that I feel confident. My mom is the same. She may get nervous but she will not let me know it. Mom knows a lot about the game. She understands safety play and things like that. My dad knows little about pool and gets very nervous when I play. I will make a safety shot and he will be in the stands saying, "Why did he miss a shot like that?"

To go back a few years, Dee began playing pool at age 13 with some of his friends in a local game room. After his game began to progress, he started to play at a local poolroom about 15 minutes from his home. Dee stated, "That is where I learned to play English and safe’s, the real parts of the game." He did gamble "a little bit" but was playing mainly in nearby tournaments. Dee said, "I saw better players like Kenny McCoy and Howard Vickery and that made me want to get to their level of play." To help his game in his later earlier years, if you will, Dee "would watch good players such as Danny Taylor. They worked hard and had very solid games. They were some of the players I looked up to along with Kenny and Howard." A few years down the road, "It was Nick Varner. He is my favorite pro player. I like his smooth, solid game. Nothing bothers him. He just does what he needs to win the match. Easy is better and Nick makes it look easy. His patterns are very good." In the past, as well as sometimes still to this day, Dee has been pragmatic in his techniques. He might use advice that was given to him or might throw it out, both dependent upon what "works best" for him.

Parents Carl and Cathy Adkins, have been "very supportive" in their son’s career. Cathy said that "Dee would get up early and practice pool one or two hours before school and then all night after school." All this practice would soon pay off as, at the age of 17, Dee played in the Glass City Open followed by his first US Open a few months later. Dee went on to say that "Mom was always taking me here or there to play. She still comes to watch. She is here today and she was in Louisville {Kentucky} with my wife Debbie. My brothers Carl and Sam Adkins as well as my sister Holly Hines are also very good players. We are all very competitive. It was serious business when we played Monopoly."

It was also serious business when Dee played in regional tournaments with the talent of "Young Guns." When asked about his history playing with the team, he said, "Well, there is a bit of a story behind that. I started traveling around and going to larger tournaments and I kept running into Corey Deuel. Corey was about 12 years old at the time. He was the best player I had ever seen at that age. I kept an interest in him and we kind of hung out together. I told him that if he were to come to West Jefferson he could get a little action and play some better competition to improve his game. He was about 13 at that time. He came to stay for one week and he is still here. He never left." Cathy Adkins stated that "Dee and Corey are more than just friends, they are like brothers." "Corey was playing at a very high level in just a few years and that is when we met Troy Frank. Troy and I are good friends. We then started ‘Young Guns’." There were other players like my brother and Chris Bartram. The team switched around a little but it centered around Corey, Troy and myself. If we needed a player we just got on the phone and called someone. We were all great friends and just had a good time playing together. No drugs, alcohol or smoking. Just pool."

In wanting to know about Dee’s toughest match ever, he recounted that there were "two different matches in two different ways. The match in Louisville against Johnny Brumback - that meant more to me because of the pressure and all that was on the line. I won that match 7-4. The other was the last Camel Tour event in Denver, Colorado against Efren Reyes. I have a chance to get in the top twenty-four in the standings and I draw Efren for my first match. Not your best draw. I knew I had to beat him to advance. I played a good race and won 9- 7. The interesting thing in the match was that the score was tied 6-6 and I have him on two fouls. I had a pretty easy safety or I could go for the run out. Efren is one of the best kick shooters in the game. I was thinking, boy, wouldn’t it be something to beat Efren on three fouls. I played the safety and hit it perfect. Efren made the shot putting me in a bad position and now I was kicking at the ball! It did not work out the way I planned. It was kind of cool the way he handled it. He just stepped up there and looked at the shot and made it and put me in a bad position. He is a very confident and solid player."

Nova is Dee’s cue of choice. He started playing with it in 1999 and it has helped his game considerably. He told how "The owner of Nova Cues, Nubs Wagner gave me one to try out. I took it to Vegas with me to play in the VNEA tournament. I played in the Masters 8-Ball tournament but did not use the Nova. I did not win. I then entered the 9-Ball and thought, well, I did not do too great in the 8-Ball so I might as well try this new cue. I won the 9-Ball with the Nova. I really like the Nova. It has a slender butt and a very solid feel. The next weekend I played in the BCA tournament and won that. I won four tournaments in a row. Needless to say I have stayed with the Nova and they are now my main sponsor."

This past February Dee won the all around points title "Master of the Table" at the 2000 Derby City Classic in Louisville, Kentucky! He had a top 20 finish in the One-Pocket event, a fourth place finish in the 9-Ball Bank competition and a fine second place finish in the 9-Ball portion of the tournament. New York City’s George San Souci won the 9-Ball event, Shannon Daulton won the 9-Ball Bank event and Nick Varner took 1st place in the One-Pocket event.

Concerning his future, Dee said "I will get more involved in my dad’s business, Adkins and Sons Roofing. My brothers and I work there but I am more limited because of pool. I would also like to open my own poolroom someday. I have a good friend, Jerry Conkel, who owns Sportsmen’s Billiards in Columbus. He gives me free time on the Diamond Tables so I can practice. I would like to do that."