Henry B. Hucles

Henry B. Hucles
Biographical details
Born(1897-11-11)November 11, 1897
Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
DiedSeptember 11, 1979(1979-09-11) (aged 81)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1919Virginia Union
1920–1921NYU
Position(s)Quarterback, halfback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1919–1920Virginia Union
1921–1922Shaw
1923–1925Prairie View State
1926–1942Virginia Union
Basketball
?–1950Virginia Union
Baseball
1925Prairie View A&M
?Virginia Union
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1926–1950Virginia Union

Henry Boyd Hucles Jr. (November 11, 1897 – September 11, 1979) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Virginia Union University from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1942 and at Prairie View A&M University from 1923 to 1925. Hucles was also the athletic director at Virginia Union from 1926 to 1950.[1] His son, Henry B. Hucles III, became a suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.[2]

He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Early life and education

Hucles was born in Petersburg, Virginia on November 11, 1897. In 1917, he studied at Wayland Academy in Washington D.C. before attending studying physics at Virginia Union University from 1919 to 1920. While at Virginia Union he founded the Zeta chapter of Omega Psi Phi and earned All-American honors as a quarterback for the Virginia Union Panthers.[3][4] As a senior, he was player-coach for the team.[3] He graduated with a BSc from Springfield College in 1933. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Richmond Coliseum.[3]

Coaching career

Hucles became the first Virginia Union University student athlete to then become a coach at the school, serving as the player football coach from 1919 to 1920 and then as the head football coach from 1926 to 1942 as well as athletic director and a professor of health and physical education.[4] From 1938 to 1943, he also served as Virginia Union's basketball coach, leading the team to a Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) title in the 1938–39 season.[4] From 1942 to 1943, future Baseball Hall of Famer Larry Doby, played on the Virginia Union basketball team under Hucles.[5]

In 1921, he spent a year coaching at Shaw University.

Hucles was the first head football coach at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas and he held that position for two seasons, from 1924 until 1925. His career coaching record at Prairie View was 11–4–1.[6][7]

Death

Hucles died in Brooklyn, New York in 1979.[8]

Head coaching record

College

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Virginia Union Panthers (Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1919–1920)
1919 Virginia Union 5–1–1 1–1 3rd
1920 Virginia Union 6–2 2–1 2nd
Shaw Bears (Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1921–1922)
1921 Shaw 0–2 6th
1922 Shaw 5–2–1 1–1 T–3rd
Shaw: 1–3
Prairie View State Panthers (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (1923–1925)
1923 Prairie View State 5–2 3–2 3rd
1924 Prairie View State 5–1–1 3–1–1
1925 Prairie View State 6–3 3–2
Prairie View State: 16–6–1 9–5–1
Virginia Union Panthers (Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1926–1942)
1926 Virginia Union 6–1 6–1 2nd
1927 Virginia Union 5–2 5–2 3rd
1928 Virginia Union 2–6–1 2–3–1 5th
1929 Virginia Union 7–1 5–1 2nd
1930 Virginia Union 6–1–2 5–1–2 2nd
1931 Virginia Union 4–4–1 3–3–1 10th
1932 Virginia Union 7–1–1 6–1–1 T–2nd
1933 Virginia Union 4–3–4 4–2–3 4th
1934 Virginia Union 4–2–2 4–2–2 4th
1935 Virginia Union 4–3–1 4–3–1 6th
1936 Virginia Union 2–5–1 2–5–1 T–9th
1937 Virginia Union 7–2 7–2 2nd
1938 Virginia Union 5–2–2 4–2–2 4th
1939 Virginia Union 5–4 3–4 9th
1940 Virginia Union 6–2–2 4–2–2 3rd
1941 Virginia Union 4–4 2–4 7th
1942 Virginia Union 3–5 1–4 8th
Virginia Union: 92–51–18 70–44–16
Total:

See also

References

  1. ^ "Records of the Athletic Department". Virginia Union University. Retrieved January 8, 2011.
  2. ^ Genealogy site
  3. ^ a b c "A Celebrated Sportsman". Virginia Union University Archives & Special Collections. June 21, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Henry Boyd Hucles Jr. Collection Finding Aid" (PDF). Virginia Union University Archives and Special Collections.
  5. ^ Hylton, Raymond (2014). Virginia Union University. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 119.
  6. ^ Prairie View A&M University coaching records Archived January 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical University Directory". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
  8. ^ ""Huc"". Virginia Union University Athletics. December 14, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2021.