Hyde excelled in football and basketball for the Monarchs and then attended Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on an athletic scholarship to play basketball and baseball. He played both sports all four years of college, and pitched a no-hitter his junior year at Stillman, and received an invitation to pro camp the summer of 1959.

Hyde earned the nickname “Duck” from family and friends because if a batter was not ready to hit his fastball, the best defense was to “duck,” because it was coming in hard. As an adult, he was a long-time employee of Moss Point School District and Tennessee State University.