His contributions to the University of North Alabama athletic program led to the naming of the school's basketball arena, which is Flowers Hall.

Lane's success at UNA began during his first season when the Lions won their first Gulf South Conference baseball championship in school history.

Another winning season for the Lions in 1988 led to a successful year in 1989 that resulted in a second GSC championship and put them back in the NCAA playoffs.

The Lions finished 1996 with a 37–11 record and 1997 at 40-15-1, winning a fourth Gulf South Conference championship and playing in their ninth NCAA regional tournament in 14 years.

In his 12 seasons as head coach, Mike Keehn has won 327 games and led UNA to six Gulf South Conference Tournament appearances and two NCAA playoff berths.

After coming to UNA (then Florence State Teachers College) in 1929, Flowers began the school's athletic program in 1932 and coached the first basketball team that season.

The Lions went 27-9 during the 2007-08 campaign and won the South Region Tournament before falling to top-ranked Bentley at the Mass Mutual Building in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Byrd directed the UNA women's program for the next 16 years, winning 232 games while leading the Lions to one Gulf South Conference championship and four NCAA Division II regionals.

The UNA women's basketball program received its first NCAA Division II Top 20 ranking on January 16, 1984, when the Lions debuted in the poll at No.

In 1993–94, Byrd led the Lions an NCAA South Regional championship and a third-place finish at the Division II Elite Eight in Fargo, N.D.

The Wayne Byrd era at UNA also included three All-Americans, with LaConger Cohran and Brenda Mayes earning national awards in 1985, and Serita Gauldin becoming the school's first, first-team All-America pick in women's basketball in 1998.

Terry Fowler became the sixth head women's basketball coach in UNA history in 2006 and took the first step in rebuilding the winning tradition with a solid 14–14 mark in his inaugural season.

UNA's Amber Rutherford led Division II in free throw percentage at 93.7, and the Lions returned to the Gulf South Conference Tournament for the first time since 2003.

Led by a senior class that won a school-record 85 games and included the top two scorers in program history, the Lions set 14 school records at the single-season and career levels.

For the next 21 years, there were several efforts made to return football to the Florence campus by writing letters to the administration and gathering names on petitions.

Since that September day, the university has reaped 67 years' worth of benefits from a football program that has helped put UNA on the map as one of the nation's premier collegiate powers.

Since Hal Self guided the first Lion squad onto the field on Sept. 29, 1949, through UNA's playoff loss that ended the 2009 season, the North Alabama program has made a name for itself like few others in the nation.

Then in 2009, another historic chapter was written when nationally renowned coach Terry Bowden came to Florence and led the Lions to an 11–2 record, a Gulf South Conference championship, a spot in the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs, and a No.

Under the direction of Hal Self, the early Lion football teams were a model of consistency, enjoying 12 winning seasons in the first 14 years or the program.

Grubb would lead UNA to 84 wins, three Gulf South Conference titles, and its first three NCAA playoff appearances in an 11-year stint in Florence.

In his 10 years in Florence, Wallace led UNA to 82 wins, three GSC titles, six playoff appearances, and three NCAA Division II National Championships in 1993, 1994, and 1995.

1 in the nation in 27 straight polls, UNA also tied a Division II record by winning 28 consecutive home games at Braly Stadium.

Wallace left UNA following another playoff run in 1997 and the Lions elevated longtime defensive coordinator Bill Hyde to the head coaching position.

Hudspeth spent seven seasons in Florence and put the Lion program back at the top of Division II, winning 64 games and making five playoff appearances.

Bobby Wallace returned to UNA prior to the 2012 season and led the Lions to a 5–5 record before his 2013 squad went 10–3, won a share of the GSC Championship, and fought its way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Aside from winning the school's first-ever national title in softball, the Lions also broke or tied 30 team and individual records at the single-season and career levels.

The women's soccer program at the University of North Alabama began in 1996 as a club sport and moved quickly into the Gulf South Conference and the NCAA Division II in 1997.

The four-year span from 2009 to 2012 was highlighted by the play of Chloe Roberts, Nikki Brown and Jo Chubb, who were all four-time All-Gulf South Conference selections.

In 2015, Walker's Lions went 15-3-2, won the Gulf South Conference regular-season and post-season titles and hosted an NCAA Regional event for the first time.

The University of North Alabama women's volleyball program holds numerous conference and regional titles and one Division II national championship, earned in 2003.