About Inductee

Outstanding athlete, Naval Aviator, accomplished teacher and coach - Herman Roberson was all of these. Born in 1916 in Talladega Springs, Alabama, Roberson played three years of basketball on an outdoor court at tiny Fayetteville High School, graduating in 1935 as the class Valedictorian. He walked on at the University of Alabama and later became a three-year starter (1938-40) on a standout team that won back-to-back Southeastern Conference basketball championships (1939 and 1940) for coach Hank Crisp. He left Alabama with a Bachelors degree in math (1939) and a Masters degree in physical education (1940). Roberson was coaching at Pell City High School when America entered World War II, whereupon he joined the U.S. Navy to become a Naval Aviator. It turned into a long-term commitment. Roberson eventually served in three wars World War II, Korea and Vietnam and flew a variety of military aircraft, including Wildcats, Corsairs, Bansee jets, ASW blimps, seaplanes and Sky Raiders. While in the Navy, he was assistant basketball coach at Annapolis and also taught calculus to the midshipmen. For a time in the 1940s, he played professional basketball for the Birmingham Vulcans. Between wars, Roberson was the head coach at Howard College, now Samford University, from 1947-50. In 1950, Roberson moved to New Hope, where he taught math, coached basketball and served as principal. His New Hope team won the Madison County championship in 1966. He retired in 1978 and spent the next 20 years playing golf, gardening, growing fruit trees and enjoying his family. Herman Roberson died on April 11, 1998.