In memoriam: Pete Hillman, USC baseball and basketball standout, 77
He pitched on USC’s 1963 national championship baseball team and was a three-year basketball letterman
Pete Hillman, who pitched on USC’s 1963 national championship baseball team and also starred on the Trojan men’s basketball team, died Nov. 8 in Glendale of cancer. He was 77.
Hillman was a three-year (1961-63) letterman guard-forward on the USC basketball team, winning Most Inspirational Player honors while averaging 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds as a senior on the 1963 squad that went 20-9. His 1961 team was 21-8 and won the conference crown.
A two-year (1962-63) letterman on the Trojan baseball team, he posted a 3-1 record with a 1.09 ERA on the 1963 USC squad that took the national title.
He came to USC from John Burroughs High in Burbank.
After his USC playing days, Hillman was a real estate broker and developer. His son, Joe, played on Indiana’s 1987 NCAA championship basketball team. His daughter, Nancy Somera, played volleyball at USC from 1985 to 1988, twice earning All-Pac-10 honors, and then was an assistant coach at USC before becoming the head coach at Oregon State, South Carolina and currently Johnson & Wales.
Hillman is survived by his wife, Sharon; sons Joe and John; daughters Mary Ruetten and Nancy Somera; nine grandchildren; and his brother, Joe.
A service will be held at 10 a.m. Nov. 24 at St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church, 215 Foothill Blvd., La Canada-Flintridge. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to the Pete Hillman High-One Fund for youth sports organizations for underprivileged children.
