Born: August 24, 1931
Hometown: Farmerville, LA
Year of Induction: 2005
High School Career
Farmerville High School, Farmerville, LA
College Career
Louisiana Tech, Ruston, LA (1950-1954, 1961)
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (1956)
LSU, Baton Rouge, LA (1958)
Career as a Player
• Signed professional baseball contract with Brooklyn Dodgers
- Minor league baseball, D league, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Wisconsin State League (1949)
• Brooklyn Dodgers split squad spring training
- Greenwood, MS franchise in Cotton States League
- Pitching record of 7 wins including rare twin wins in doubleheader
- Suffered Back Injury while throwing a perfect game for 7 and 2/3 innings in Monroe, LA, ending professional athletic career (1950)
• Manager & pitcher for the Homer Oilers in Big Eight League (1951-1958)
Professional Career
• Director of Summer Activities, Homer, LA (1952-1954)
• Head basketball & baseball coach, Athens High School, Athens, LA (1954-1956)
• Assistant football coach under MSHOF member Jack Carlisle at Jackson Murrah High School, Jackson, MS
- Coached basketball, football, baseball & golf for the Mustangs (1956-1962)
- Helped lead Murrah football team to City of Jackson title and North Big 8 crown
• Athletic Director, head basketball & tennis coach, Belhaven College, Jackson, MS; Associate Professor of History & Health (1962-1995)
- NAIA District Basketball Coach of the year in ‘70, ’71, ‘72, ’77, & ‘78
- NAIA District and conference Tennis Coach of the Year for 15 consecutive years as voted by his coaching peers
- 1983 NAIA National Tennis Championship
- Basketball arena at Belhaven College named in his honor as the Charles R. Rugg Arena on October 27, 2001.
- Founding Father of Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
Hall of Fame Memberships
• Belhaven College Athletic Hall of Fame Charter Member (1993)
• NAIA National Sports Hall of Fame (1996)
• Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (2005)
Did You Know?
Coach Rugg was a major league pitching prospect who played with MLB Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, and Roy Campanella in Brooklyn Dodger Spring Training in 1950.
