A native of San Antonio, Texas, Rudy Davalos distinguished himself as an accomplished basketball student-athlete at Southwest Texas State University. He captained the 1960 national championship team and earned NAIA first-team All-America and first-team All-Tournament honors that season. Davalos also earned selection to the NAIA All-Star Team that competed in the 1960 Olympic Trials, where his team defeated Ohio State in the opening round.
Davalos built a distinguished career as a coach and athletics administrator, retiring in 2006 as director of athletics at the University of New Mexico. He also served as athletics director at the University of Houston and the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he guided the program’s transition to NCAA Division I. Before his administrative career, Davalos enjoyed success as a basketball coach. After three assistant coaching positions, he became head men’s basketball coach at the University of the South, leading the Tigers to a program-best 23-4 record during the 1972-73 season. He later served as an assistant coach with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
During his 14-year tenure at New Mexico, Davalos led the Lobos to sustained success. UNM teams earned 112 NCAA postseason appearances and won or shared 35 regular-season or postseason conference championships. The ski team captured the 2004 NCAA championship, becoming the first Lobo program to win a national title. Under Davalos’ leadership, the Lobo Club generated $6 million annually in fundraising, helping increase the athletics department budget from $9.4 million to $22 million. The department never finished a fiscal year over budget during his tenure. Sports Illustrated named Davalos one of the top 101 minorities in sports. Davalos remains active in athletics. In 2010, he founded the Horseshoe Bay Sports Club, which now includes more than 300 members and meets monthly to hear from leaders across the sports landscape. Davalos received the Lamar Hunt Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for his lifelong leadership, service and transformative impact on collegiate athletics in Texas and across the nation.
