NASHVILLE – Lipscomb University Athletics announced on Wednesday the addition of four inductees into the department’s Hall of Fame. The 2023 honorees are Ryan Chastain (XC/T&F), Adnan Hodzic (Men’s Basketball), Whitney Kiihnl (Softball) and Greg Wilder (Men’s Golf). In addition, a new honor, the Lipscomb Athletics Trailblazer Award, is being given for the first time in Hall of Fame history with former Lipscomb student athlete and coach Bailey Heflin being recognized.
“Spanning five different decades and five different sports, this year’s Hall of Fame class does a tremendous job of representing the breadth of talented student athletes and coaches who have worn the purple and gold over the years,” said Lipscomb’s Director of Athletics, Philip Hutcheson. “And just like the inductees of the past, the accomplishments of those we are honoring have stood the test of time, no matter the era in which they were competing. More than just their athletic accomplishments, however, each of those being recognized were noted for their character and their love for the Lipscomb community, and with all of those factors in mind, it is our pleasure to welcome these fellow Lipscomb Bisons into the Lipscomb Athletics Hall of Fame.”
RYAN CHASTAIN (XC/TRACK & FIELD) – 2006-10
Ryan Chastain was a member of the Lipscomb Cross Country and Track & Field teams from 2006-10. One of the Bisons’ best distance runners, Chastain broke Lipscomb records 11 different times during his four-year career. During his junior and senior campaigns, he finished first for the Bisons in every single cross country meet that he competed in. The two-time team captain garnered several honors while wearing the Purple-and-Gold, including being named a member of the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team, a two-time ESPN/CoSIDA First Team District IV All-Academic member and four-time A-Sun All-Academic Team honoree. The first male Lipscomb track athlete to win an NCAA DI conference championship, Chastain won three A-Sun Championships during the 2010 season including the indoor mile, the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 1,500-meter run. During his junior and senior seasons, Chastain was also the first Bison in the NCAA Division I era to earn First Team All Conference honors and the first to win a cross country meet for Lipscomb when he won the Vanderbilt Invitational.
ADNAN HODZIC (MEN’S BASKETBALL) – 2007-11
Adnan Hodzic played Men’s Basketball for Lipscomb from 2007-11 and was inducted into the ASUN Hall of Fame in 2022. As a member of the Bisons, Hodzic averaged 16.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and shot 58.6 percent from the floor over four seasons. Hodzic started 105 of his 121 games played and racked up 2,002 points and 840 rebounds for his career to rank 10th all-time in the ASUN in scoring and 13th in rebounding. He stands as the second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder in Lipscomb’s Division I era. One of only 11 players in league history to earn three All-Conference First Team selections, Hodzic claimed ASUN Player of the Year honors in 2009 along with Honorable Mention Associated Press All-America and NABC All-District 3 first team honors after leading Lipscomb to its first-ever ASUN Regular Season Championship. During that season, he was also named Second Team Mid-Major All-American by CollegeHoops and ASUN MVP by CollegeInsider. During his career, Hodzic led the ASUN in field goal percentage for four-consecutive seasons and also concluded his time ranked fourth in field goals made (799), eighth in field goal percentage (58.6), 14th in free throws attempted (576) and 16th in free throws made (403). He led the nation in field goal percentage (60.4) in 2009 and ranked second in the nation in scoring, still only the third player in the nation to average at least 22.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and shoot 60 percent from the floor since the 1992-93 season. Hodzic had a 72-game streak of netting 10+ points in his career and tallied 30 or more points five times, 20 or more in 48 games and eclipsed the 10-point threshold in 100 of 121 games played. He finished his career with 26 double-doubles (9th all-time in the ASUN) and shot better than 50 percent in 89 of 121 games. At the time, his 22.7 points per game as a junior was the highest single-season average in the ASUN since the 1989-90 season and it still ranks as the ninth-best total in ASUN records.
WHITNEY KIIHNL (SOFTBALL) – 2008-12
Whitney Kiihnl played softball for the Bisons from 2008-12 and is one of the most decorated players in ASUN history. She was named both the Player and Pitcher of the year in 2010, the only player in league history to win both in the same season. Kiihnl was also named the 2009 Freshman of the Year, the 2012 Scholar Athlete of the Year and was a four-time All-Conference selection. Her 12 Pitcher of the Week awards rank second in ASUN history as she led the Bisons to a 154-67 record (.697) in her career. Kiihnl ranks in the Top-10 of the ASUN career records in seven categories including third in strikeouts (1,118), wins (93) and shutouts (40), fourth in innings pitched (876.0) and appearances (158), sixth in complete games (93) and seventh in games started (115). She helped guide the Bisons to their first-ever ASUN Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010 and led the squad to three top-three finishes in the ASUN during her time with Lipscomb. Kiihnl is only one of eight players in ASUN history to earn three All-Tournament nods and one of only three pitchers in history to record 1,000 career strikeouts. The hurler owns two of the top-10 single-season strikeout marks in ASUN history (344 – 5th, 2010) and (328 – 8th, 2011). Her 33 wins in 2010 are the fourth-most wins in ASUN history while her 12 shutouts in both 2010 and 2011 are tied for the seventh-most in a single season. With her commanding the circle, the Bisons led the league in team ERA twice with a 1.75 mark in 2010 and 1.40 mark in 2011. Individually, her 0.95 ERA in 2010 led the conference and ranks as the second-lowest mark in the ASUN since 2005.
GREG WILDER (MEN’S GOLF) – 1979-1983
Greg Wilder was a member of the Lipscomb Men’s Golf team from 1979-1983. During his time with the men’s golf program, Wilder garnered a multitude of honors including being named a two-time Second Team All-American, a three-time All-District honoree and a three-time All-Conference Team selection. He consistently led the Bisons as a two-time team captain, seven-time tournament winner, four-time National Championship qualifier and two-time conference medalist. In 1983, Wilder led the team to its highest ever finish at the end of the season as the Bisons earned a national ranking of 7th. Wilder was a back-to-back VSAC Conference Tournament Champion with wins in both 1983 and 1982. Other tournament wins during his career included the North Alabama Collegiate Invitational, the Carson Newman Collegiate Invitational, the Montevallo University Invitational, the Christian Brothers Collegiate Invitational and the Sewanee Invitational. Wilder is one of just a handful of Lipscomb players to ever qualify for the National Championship in four-consecutive seasons.
BAILEY HEFLIN (XC/TRACK & FIELD AND MEN’S BASKETBALL) – LIPSCOMB ATHLETCS TRAILBLAZER AWARD
The Lipscomb Athletics Trailblazer Award has been established to recognize former student athletes, coaches and administrators who, through their actions, activities, service or leadership, have expanded the boundaries and the benefits of the athletics experience for the generations that come after them. The inaugural recipient of this award is Bailey Heflin. Heflin attended Lipscomb from 1960-1964, where he lettered in both basketball and track and field. Afterward, from 1965-1969, Heflin was the track and field coach and also an assistant coach on the men’s basketball team.
While a student athlete, Bailey set the school record for the high jump, a mark that stood for a number of years, and was a part of a number of Bison basketball wins, including one in the first game ever played in Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium.
It was his time after college, though, in which he made some of his most significant and lasting contributions. As a Lipscomb coach, Bailey’s teams won several track and field and cross country championships and he helped develop multiple NAIA All-Americans. And in what was certainly one of the most historically significant moments of his career, in 1968, he signed Lewis Allen and James Teat, the first black student athletes to attend Lipscomb University, along with leading in the recruitment of Lipscomb Hall of Famer and Lipscomb Honors recipient, Bruce Bowers, the first black man to put on a Bison basketball uniform.
After leaving coaching, as a fan and friend, he actively cheered on, in person and from afar, the accomplishments of the literally thousands of student athletes from nearly every state in the union, from dozens of countries outside the U.S. and from a wide assortment of backgrounds – many of whom came to, succeeded at and graduated from Lipscomb thanks to the doors that Bailey first helped open as a Lipscomb Athletics Trailblazer. Heflin passed away in August 2023 and will be posthumously honored at this year’s event.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will be a part of the 2023 Bisons Weekend and will take place on November 11 at 12:30 PM in the George Shinn Event Center on the Lipscomb Campus. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased HERE. Tables of eight may be reserved for $200. To purchase tickets or for more information, please contact Stephanie Carroll by phone (615-966-5130) or by email ([email protected]).
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