University of North Alabama Athletics

Rick Chavez was a  two-year letterman in baseball at North Alabama in 1984 and 1985 and helped lead the Lions to their first Gulf South Conference baseball championship and their first NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament appearance. A native of Douglas, Ariz., Chavez became UNA's first baseball All-American when he was selected for the American Baseball Coaches Association's team in 1984. He was a two-time All-GSC pick and was All-Region and All-Region Tournament in 1984. 

As a junior he hit .371 and helped UNA to a 28-24-1 record that included the school's first GSC baseball title. UNA also made its first NCAA regional appearance and advanced to the championship game undefeated before falling one win shy of the Division II World Series.  Chavez also helped lead UNA to a 46-11-1 record in 1985 that included the school's second straight NCAA regional trip and an NCAA team record 260 stolen bases. The 46 wins in that season still stands as the most ever by a Lion baseball team.  He hit .443 that season but suffered a career-ending knee injury in the NCAA regional. He finished his two-year career at UNA with a .403 batting average.

He graduated from UNA in 1986 with a B.S. degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation.  At the time of his induction, Chavez was teaching in Tucson, Ariz.