Bill Jones brought the first national championship to the University of North Alabama in 1979 when his Lions won the 1979 Division II basketball title.

He was the athletic director when football coach Bobby Wallace won three consecutive national football championships.

A little more than four years after his death in 2008, Jones will be enshrined in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. The ASHOF announced its Class of 2013 on Tuesday.

His posthumous induction will be May 18, 2013 at the Birmingham Ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel. Classmates include University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, Eric Davis (football), Bill Oliver (football), Vickie Orr (women's basketball), Forrest Blue (football, posthumous), Danette Young Stone (track and field) and Ronnie Baynes (officiating).

Jones' wife, Joan, was elated to hear the news.

"It's very satisfying for me," she said. "I feel like his involvement in athletics brought a lot of excitement to our family and to our communities all across the state. This induction is wonderful. Bill just wanted to do his job but he would be very proud of this. His legacy will live on in a lot of young men that he worked with."

In 15 seasons coaching the Lions, Jones compiled a 259-141 record including the 1979 national title. His teams won four NCAA regional championships and three Gulf South Conference titles.

After becoming UNA's first fulltime athletic director with no coaching responsibilities, he helped UNA become one of the premier athletic programs in the country. The Lions won their second basketball title in 1991 and three consecutive football titles from 1993-95 during his tenure.

Gary Elliott, an assistant coach on the 1979 championship team and head coach of the 1991 championship team, said the honor was overdue.

"It's something he deserves, without a doubt," Elliott said. "It's a shame this didn't happen when he was still alive."

Elliott said among Jones' strengths were as a motivator and not micromanaging.

"He made sure you knew what you were supposed to do and then he would leave you alone and let you do your job," Elliott said. "He was that was as a coach and as an athletic director. He hired you and had confidence in you. That's one of the best things you can do as an athletic director.

"He seemed to always know the right thing to say at the right time before games," Elliott added. "And his antics on the sideline would motivate the crowd. It's the kind of personality he had."

His grandsons, Barrett and Harris, play for Saban at Alabama, Barrett is a two-time Associated Press first-team All-America selection.