BATESVILLE, Arkansas - Lyon College Athletic Director Kevin Jenkins announced on Wednesday that Rick Walker has been named the Assistant Athletic Director for Lyon College athletics.

Walker, who is currently the assistant Scots' softball coach, will assume duties immediately.

"Rick will be a great addition to our senior leadership team," Jenkins said. "I am looking forward to his continued contributions to our department's success."

In his new role, Walker will manage Game Day Operations, help with NCAA and conference compliance, plus work alongside the college's advancement team for athletic fundraising. He will work with departmental staff members and coaches to provide the needed support for our on campus athletic competitions, work alongside our compliance coordinators to ensure compliance through education and review of relevant activities.

 Walker came to Lyon College as the softball assistant coach for the Scots from Cincinnati, Ohio in 2022. He was the head softball coach at Miami University-Hamilton from 2016 to 2022 and during his tenure, his teams finished seventh at the 2022 USCAA World Series and were ranked in the top 15 of USCAA National Coaches Poll. While at Miami University-Hamilton, Walker had a USCAA First Team All-American player, four USCAA Academic All-Americans, 10 All-Conference players, 10 Academic All-Conference players and four Academic All Americans. His teams finished as conference tournament runners-up in 2018 and won the conference tournament in 2019.

Before going to Miami University-Hamilton, Walker was the head varsity softball coach and assistant basket ball coach for Lloyd Memorial High School and was the head coach for the Lexington Legacy 18U team in 2007. Before that, he was the head varsity softball coach of Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky. Walker is a graduate of Greenville College where he was a two-year letterman on the men's varsity soccer team and a letterman for the men's varsity baseball team, as well.

"It is an honor to be selected as the Assistant Athletic Director here at Lyon," Walker said. "I would like to thank President Dr. Melissa Taverner, Provost Dr. Anthony Grafton and Athletic Director Kevin Jenkins for this amazing opportunity. My previous experience as a head coach the six years before I came to Lyon at a non-scholarship program in southwest Ohio, taught me about recruiting, higher numbers and retaining those numbers. It has been a huge benefit getting to know the entire coaching staff at Lyon, as well."

Walker plans to meet with all of the Scots coaches in regards to their recruiting goals and to develop goals for their respective programs, while keeping retention at the highest level possible.

"We have great coaches on staff that have fantastic goals to get their programs to the next level and I would love to be a part of getting them to a championship level," he said.

Walker is married to his wife Lisa Walker, the Student Life Administrative Coordinator at Lyon. Together they have four children, Jay, Aden Madison and Olivia.

Walker's hometown is Jackson, Michigan.