Basketball, 1983-84

Maurice Stafford, a native of Biggersville, Miss., was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference selection in basketball for the Lions in 1983 and 1984 and was selected as the GSC Player of the Year as a senior.  He helped lead UNA to a 27-7 record in 1984 that included a Gulf South Conference championship, an NCAA South Regional championship and a spot in the Division II Final Four.  Stafford shot 75.0 percent from the floor in 1984 to lead the NCAA Division II and set an all-time Division II record in the process.

He led UNA in scoring and field goal percentage as both a  junior and senior, scoring 491 points for a 14.4 average in 1984 and 431 points for a 14.9 average in 1983. He shot 59.3 percent from the floor as a junior and had a career  66.6 percent mark  (379-of-569). Stafford added 382 career rebounds, 32 blocked shots, 70 steals and 95 assists. 

He received a B.S. degree in Physical Education and Sociology from UNA in 1986 and served as UNA's assistant women's basketball coach from 1996-98,  after serving six years as the assistant women's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin. At the time of his induction he was serving as the assistant women's basketball coach at the University of Memphis.