THE OFFICIAL ATHLETICS SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA LIONS

Fred Stafford lettered two years in basketball for the Lions and helped lead the team to an NCAA Division II National Championship title in 1991. He was selected as the Chevrolet Player of the Game by CBS Sports after scoring 24 points against Bridgeport in the National Championship Game, leading the Lions to a 79-72 win. 

Stafford was also selected to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team (1990-91). That UNA team finished the season 29-4 for the most wins and best record in a season in school history. In his two seasons at UNA, the Lions had records for 20-8 and 29-4 for a combined 49-12 record. 

He scored in double-figures 29 times as a Lion, including in 21 of his 33 starts in 1990-91. His career high was a 27-point performance in a Gulf South Conference road win at Valdosta State in his senior season. Stafford averaged 7.2 points as a junior in 1990 and 11.4 as a senior, scoring 579 points in two seasons. He added 238 career rebounds, 15 blocks, 82 steals and 180 assists. He shot 53.8 from the floor as a senior (134-249). 

Stafford is the fourth player from that 1991 National Championship team to be inducted into the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame, joining Allen Williams, Carl Wilmer and Ricky Johnson. 

A native of Rienzi, Miss, Stafford is a 1992 UNA graduate who also holds a Masters Degree from UNA as well. He served the Lions as a student assistant coach in 1991-92 and 1992-93. 

Stafford was inducted into Northeast Mississippi Community College Hall of Fame in 2023. He has spent the last three decades in the coaching profession. He was part of three state championships at his alma mater of Biggersville High School in the 1990s, with two coming as the head coach for track and the other as assistant boys basketball instructor.

He collected division coach of the year awards in 2016 at Corinth High School and most recently at H.W. Byers High School. Stafford was selected to coach in the 2023 Northeast Mississippi Basketball Coaches Association (NEMBCA) All-Star Games.

Stafford's brother Maurice was inducted into the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999, making them the only sibling duo to hold UNA Hall of Fame membership. 

He is the father of two sons, Devin Armstead and Kendall Stafford. His son Kendall also played basketball at UNA from 2017-19.