Early Life and High School
Gillom grew up in Massillon, Ohio and attended Massillon Washington High School. He was a star end on the Massillon football team like his older brother Odell, but he was also a linebacker and punter. Bud Houghton, who coached him when he was in junior high school, said Gillom needed a step and a half more than usual to get his punts off, but he was the best he had ever seen once he made the kick. Houghton moved Gillom 15 yards behind the snapper instead of the usual 10, which gave him the room he needed. Gillom was a favorite of Massillon High football coach Paul Brown, who said in his autobiography that there "has never been a better punter than Horace."
Gillom played for the Massillon Tigers between 1938 and 1940, a period during which the team won all of its games and two High School Football National Championships. Gillom, who also played basketball and other sports, earned All-Ohio honors at Massillon and was one of several black players on the team at a time when many northern high schools excluded them. Brown's policy was to use his best players, regardless of race. He set school records for points scored in a season and touchdown passes caught in a season. His record of 108 points in a season still stands.
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