Honoring A Legend Of The NCCU Baseball Program: William “Huck” Peerman

William “Huck” Peerman was the rare kind of role model that was able to lead his life through his passion for sports, especially baseball. It was through this passion that he was able to influence a large number of athletes before, during, and after his time as a coach. He was inducted into the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Alex M. Rivera Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985. The football stadium of Chapel Hill High School also bears his name.

In the early 1940s, growing up in Pennsylvania, Huck developed a deep passion for sports.  This drive to pursue sports led him to the NCCU campus in Durham, North Carolina where he was a multi-sport athlete, excelling in both football and baseball.  Everyone that knew him smiled as they saw his face “light up” with excitement when he spoke about his baseball games.  It was very clear that he was in love with the game.  Football was also fun, but it always came second to the “the bat and ball.”  After leaving college to fight for the country during World War II, where he helped defend our country as a hero, Peerman returned to finish his degree and excel in sports as an NCCU student-athlete.                                       

One of his games was featured on the famous “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” show for pitching a no-hitter and still losing the game.  The game started with another pitcher who found himself giving up four runs before getting an out.  It was then that Peerman stepped to the mound and pitched a game that got him recognized by the iconic franchise. Ripley did stretch a point; that loss would not have been credited to Peerman, the no-hit pitcher.

Peerman followed his passion to play professional baseball as a pitcher for the Greys in the National Negro League.  The league he played in was recently recognized as a major contributor to the development of Major League Baseball.  It is not a stretch to say that baseball would not be the same without the efforts of the players on his team.  After using his passion to contribute to baseball, Peerman decided to return to North Carolina.

Once he arrived back in town, he was eager to share his passion with the youth of the town by coaching football for Lincoln High School in Chapel Hill.  He helped coach in the “Shine South Bowl” game held in Durham in 1962.  And the effort exerted by the coach helped to shape the lives of the athletes he coached by providing them with a role model and discipline. His daughter, Dianne Peerman Pledger, remembers him receiving admiration from his players and it is very clear she looked up to him as a role model.    

The Chapel Hill High School football team plays on a field that was proudly named after a man that helped contribute to the world through his passion for sports.  The next time you pass by the stadium that bears his name, make sure you “tip your hat” to Coach “Huck” Peerman.