RRAC Commissioner Tony Stigliano honored with RRAC Founders Award

WACO, Texas (March 6, 2026) – The Red River Athletic Conference honored Commissioner Tony Stigliano with a special presentation during the RRAC 2026 Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals between LSU Shreveport and Texas A&M-Texarkana on Feb. 28.

 

Stigliano received the RRAC Founders Award in recognition of his exemplary service and commitment to the conference. The award was presented by LSU Shreveport Director of Athletics Lucas Morgan, LSU Alexandria Assistant Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Tyler Unsicker, and RRAC Sponsorships and Communications Director Darin David.

 

Stigliano has served as RRAC commissioner since its inception in 1998, when the conference also joined the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

 

Before leading the RRAC, Stigliano served with distinction in the United States Air Force, retiring after a lengthy military career.

 

Subsequently, Stigliano became a prominent NCAA basketball official, collaborating with coaches such as Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, and Mike Krzyzewski. He later served as commissioner of the NAIA's Heart of Texas Conference, followed by commissioner in the Red River Athletic Conference and NCAA Division II Heartland Conference.

 

Under Stigliano's leadership, the RRAC now sanctions programs in men's and women's cross country, soccer, basketball, outdoor track and field, golf, tennis, as well as women's volleyball, men's baseball, women's softball, and co-ed cheer.

The RRAC was established with 15 member institutions, including Bacone College (Okla.), Houston Christian (now Houston Baptist) (Texas), Huston-Tillotson (Texas), Jarvis Christian (Texas), Langston (Okla.), Northwestern Oklahoma State, Northwood (Texas), Paul Quinn (Texas), Southwest (N.M.), Southwestern Adventist (Texas), Southwestern Assemblies of God (now Nelson) (Texas), Texas-Permian Basin, Texas College, Science and Arts of Oklahoma, and Wiley (Texas).

 

Subsequent additions to the RRAC include Texas Wesleyan (2001), Texas A&M International (2002), Texas-Brownsville (2006), Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) (2008), LSU Shreveport (2010), St. Thomas (Texas) (2011), LSU Alexandria (2014), Texas A&M-Victoria (2015), Texas A&M-Texarkana (2016), Texas A&M-San Antonio (2020), Louisiana Christian (2021), Xavier (La.) (2021), North American (Texas) (2023), and North Texas-Dallas (2025).

 

As of 2026, RRAC member institutions include Jarvis Christian, Louisiana Christian, LSU Alexandria, LSU Shreveport, North American-Texas, North Texas-Dallas, Our Lady of the Lake, Texas A&M-San Antonio, Texas A&M-Texarkana, Texas A&M-Victoria, Texas College, Southwest, and Xavier.

 

During Stigliano's 28-year tenure as RRAC commissioner, 10 RRAC teams won NAIA national championships. Notable achievements include Northwestern Oklahoma State in football (1999), Texas Wesleyan in men's basketball (2006), Wiley (Texas) in outdoor track and field (2018), Texas-Brownsville in volleyball (2011 and 2013), Xavier in competitive cheer (2022) and the NCA National Championship in the Advance Large Coed NAIA Division (2024), OLLU in softball (2024) and OLLU Spirit in the NCA NAIA Game Day Division National Championship (2025), and LSUS in baseball (2025).

 

Stigliano was inducted into the Heartland Conference Hall of Fame in 2019 and the RRAC Hall of Fame in 2022.