Author Archives: Jerry Briggs

Austin Claunch set to coach his first regular-season game for UTSA tonight

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Austin Claunch. The UTSA men's basketball team on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

First-year UTSA coach Austin Claunch spent last season working for the Final Four-bound Alabama Crimson Tide. Previously, he worked five seasons as head coach of the Nicholls State Colonels. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The introductory press conference is now old news. The first summer conditioning session has been completed. Preseason fall camp? It’s been relegated to the history books.

Austin Claunch will make his regular-season debut as coach of the UTSA Roadrunners tonight when they host the Division III Trinity University Tigers.

Tipoff is set for 7 o’clock at the Convocation Center for what will be the opener of the 44th season of men’s college basketball at UTSA.

“Seems like just yesterday I was here for the (first) press conference,” Claunch said in a Zoom call Monday morning. “It’s certainly flown by. Exciting time for our guys who have been battling and competing against each other for the last couple of months. It’s good it’s here. (Tipoff) can’t come fast enough.”

Claunch arrived on campus in April after helping the Alabama Crimson Tide reach last year’s NCAA Final Four. In a nearly complete roster overhaul, most of the players from last year’s team hit the transfer portal to play for other schools.

As one of the youngest coaches in the nation at age 34, Claunch didn’t flinch at the challenge. He responded by signing 12 transfers to scholarships over the summer. Most said the reason they picked UTSA was the coaching staff.

“He’s like one of those coaches I can relate to,” UTSA small forward Raekwon Horton said. “You go ride around (with him). Get a bite (to eat). Just chat. We’re always talking, inter-acting. (He’s) very cool.”

Observers have noted an amped-up competitive spirit among the coaches and players. One practice recently had players rolling on the floor battling for loose balls and knocking each other out of bounds while going for rebounds.

The Roadrunners’ plan calls for them to play a physical style defensively, with the idea that the stops will lead to a fast-paced offensive attack.

“Pace,” senior guard Primo Spears said. “That’s just what we’ve been preaching all summer and all offseason, just playing with pace. We’re definitely going to shoot a lot of threes. And we’re going to defend at a high level.

“Our offense is going to be there because of our defense and how we guard. If we can get stops and get out on transition, we’re going to be hard to deal with.”

Center Mo Njie also said he likes the idea that the Roadrunners will attack with players who have a variety of skills.

“We have a lot of versatility and depth on this team,” Njie said. “I think that’s a lot of strength that we have, you know, that we can go anywhere and play all 40 minutes with different guys, different lineups.
And, just, our ability to come out and compete every time. Like, that’s our competitive edge.”

The Roadrunners will need the depth to come through as they are scheduled to play tonight without high-flying guard Tai’Reon Joseph, a transfer from Southern University. Joseph is sitting out for an undetermined number of games for unspecified reasons, though coaches feel confident he will be available before conference play starts.

In addition, Njie, a 6-11 center, is regarded as questionable for the Trinity game with a groin injury. Guard Paul Lewis, who had been limited in practice recently with a sore foot, is expected to play.

Njie came out of a scrimmage in Houston against McNeese State hobbling. He hasn’t practiced much since. Claunch said he “looks much better” lately. “He did some non-contact stuff yesterday,” the coach said.

Claunch didn’t announce his starters for tonight, but he could go with 6-8 Jaquan Scott and 6-9 Jo Smith in the post, flanked by Damari Monsanto on the wing, with Spears and Marcus Millender at guard.

The reserves might include David Hermes in the post, with both Horton and Skylar Wicks, a transfer from Incarnate Word, on the wing. Horton, one of the team’s best athletes, is expected to play heavy minutes this season.

Coming up

North Dakota at UTSA men, 6 p.m.

Notable

For Trinity, the game is an exhibition and won’t count on the Tigers’ record. Trinity finished 23-4 last year and lost in the first round of the NCAC Division III playoffs. The San Antonio-based Tigers are led by fifth-year coach Jimmy Smith.

UTSA women’s basketball coach Karen Aston said sophomore guard Aysia Proctor “has taken a step away from the program. “She’s going to take care of some off-court challenges,” the coach said. “I do not have a timetable on her return to play.” Aston’s Roadrunners will open the season Thursday in College Station against the Texas A&M Aggies.

San Antonio-area talent fills NCAA Division I women’s basketball rosters

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Tulane Amira Mabry

Amira Mabry, a Tulane University junior from Judson High School, is one of at least 25 San Antonio-area athletes on NCAA Division I women’s basketball rosters. She averaged 11.4 points and six rebounds last year for the Green Wave. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

On the eve of a new season starting Monday, I’m sorting through NCAA Division I women’s college basketball rosters, and I’m detecting a wave of talent from the San Antonio area — at least 25 players who grew up in this area — now playing at the highest level.

There are many more local athletes in Division II and Division III programs.

But the influx of players from the local area in Division I women’s college hoops is undeniable. Nine of the players are competing in high major programs, in the so-called power conferences, according to my annual research project.

Of those nine, the most accomplished returning to the college game this season would include Deja Kelly at Oregon, Sahara Jones at Texas A&M, Aaliyah Roberson (TCU) and Carleigh Wenzel (Virginia Tech).

Sidney Love. UTSA beat Northern Colorado 80-62 in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sidney Love, a UTSA junior from Steele High School, is one of five players on the Roadrunners’ roster from the San Antonio area. Love has started for UTSA coach Karen Aston since she was a freshman. – File photo by Joe Alexander

In high school, Kelly played briefly at Johnson before moving on to Duncanville. Jones came out of Veterans Memorial while Roberson prepped at Clark and Wenzel at both O’Connor and Antonian.

Kelly is turning the page on her career this season, playing for the Ducks after four seasons as a key member of the North Carolina Tar Heels. At Carolina, she bagged three straight, first-team, all-conference honors.

Jones, meanwhile, is returning for a fifth season with the Aggies. In the past two seasons, she has played 55 games and started 51, including 32 starts last year.

Roberson, whose younger sister Arianna is highly-touted freshman at Duke, sitting out the season with a knee injury, has quietly started to build an impressive record with the Horned Frogs.

Last season, as a sophomore, she averaged a career-high 10.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks and started at center for the team’s final 17 games.

Wenzel, meanwhile, established herself at Virginia Tech, playing 33 games as a redshirt freshman and coming on strong in the NCAA tournament. In an NCAA first-round victory, she came off the bench to produce 12 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two blocks.

A strong class of freshman includes Duke’s Arianna Roberson (from Clark), Southern Cal’s Rian Forrestier (Brandeis), along with the UTSA duo of Taylor Ross (Brennan) and Mia Hammonds (Steele).

Arianna Roberson will miss the upcoming season after sustaining a knee injury while competing at the 2024 FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary, according to an announcement by Duke athletics on Sept. 5. Roberson arrived at Duke as a five-star recruit and the 19th-rated prospect in the 2024 class.

Locally, UTSA has tapped into the local talent base with five players from the San Antonio area, which is believed to be the most of any team in the nation. The five include Sidney Love (Steele), Alexis Parker (Brandeis), Aysia Proctor (Clemens), Hammonds and Ross.

Note: Here’s my list. It’s likely not complete. But, it’s just my best attempt to keep track of the city’s best players that have gone off to college. I’ll update it as soon as any new information comes to light.

San Antonio area athletes in NCAA Division I

Women’s basketball

Averi Aaron, Louisiana Tech, 6-1 freshman forward from Boerne

Hailey Adams, Rice, 6-1 redshirt sophomore guard from Clark

Kendall Beck, Houston Baptist, 6-2 freshman forward from San Marcos Panthers home school (hometown San Antonio)

Myra Bell, Incarnate Word, 5-10 grad student guard from Taft

Rian Forestier, Southern Cal, 5-11 freshman guard from Brandeis

Jaylin Foster, Texas State, 6-0 senior forward from Steele

Mia Hammonds, UTSA, 6-3 freshman guard from Steele

Natalie Huff, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5-7 freshman guard from Clark

Christeen Iwuala, Ole Miss, 6-3 junior forward from Reagan; transfer from UCLA

Vivian Iwuchukwu, Southern Cal, 6-3 freshman forward from Cole, also Montverde, Fla.

Sahara Jones, Texas A&M, 6-0 grad student guard from Veterans Memorial

Ja’Shelle Johnson, UT Rio Grande Valley, 5-4 sophomore guard from Johnson

Deja Kelly, Oregon, 5-8 grad student guard from Johnson, Duncanville; transfer from North Carolina

Sidney Love, UTSA, 5-8 junior guard from Steele

Amira Mabry, Tulane, 6-0 junior forward from Judson

Bird Martin, Texas Tech, 6-2 freshman guard from Providence

Alexis Parker, UTSA, 5-9 junior guard from Brandeis

Faith Phillips, UT Rio Grande Valley, 5-11 guard from San Marcos; transfer from St. Mary’s

Brenna Perez, Incarnate Word, 6-0 grad student forward from Veterans Memorial

Aysia Proctor, UTSA, 5-8 sophomore guard from Clemens

Arianna Roberson, Duke, 6-4 freshman center from Clark

Aaliyah Roberson, TCU, 6-2 junior forward from Clark

Taylor Ross, UTSA, 6-0 freshman forward from Brennan

Tiffany Tullis, Houston Christian, 5-11 senior forward from Cornerstone; transfer from Texas State, also Blinn JC

Sammie Wagner, Oregon, 6-1 redshirt sophomore guard-forward from Reagan

Carleigh Wenzel, Virginia Tech, 6-0 redshirt sophomore guard from O’Connor and Antonian

NCAA men’s basketball: Former San Antonio standouts find new homes in Division I

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

With the regular season opening Monday, here’s an early look at The JB Replay’s annual list of athletes from the San Antonio area who are playing NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

Notable changes from this time last season include: 6-7 forward Micah Peavy, who will play at Georgetown after leaving TCU; 6-8 guard Brendan Wenzel, who’ll play for TCU after starting the past two years at Wyoming; also, 6-8 Jaylen Crocker-Johnson will suit up for Colorado State after a solid freshman season at Arkansas-Little Rock; most intriguing, perhaps, 7-1 center Vincent Iwuchukwu will try to get untracked with the St. John’s Red Storm and coach Rick Pitino after two years at Southern Cal.

Micah Peavy is a Cibolo native and the son of Alamo Heights High School grad David Peavy, now the head coach at Duncanville High School. Micah Peavy graduated from Duncanville, spent one year at Texas Tech and then the next three at TCU, where he played under coach Jamie Dixon. Micah started all 34 games for TCU last season, averaging 10.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists, en route to honorable mention All Big 12 honors and an appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Brendan Wenzel emerged as an all state player when he came out of O’Connor High School in 2019, and he redshirted in his first year at the University of Utah. After playing only a couple of games for the Utes in 2019-20, he transferred to Wyoming, where he sat out the next season on the transfer rule. He spent the last three seasons as a fixture in Laramie, playing in 89 games. As a senior in 2023-24, he averaged 11.6 points and 5.1 rebounds. With TCU, Wenzel hit a three in the last minute Friday night to spark TCU to a victory over Arkansas in a charity exhibition.

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson Came out of Warren High School in 2023 as the school’s all-time scoring and rebounding leader. As a freshman at Arkansas-Little Rock last season, he started 32 of 33 games and averaged 9.2 points and 5.4 rebounds. As a result, he was named Freshman of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference. Crocker-Johnson is considered a key offseason pickup for Colorado State coach Niko Medved.

Vincent Iwuchukwu In San Antonio, the 7-footer known as “Baby Shaq’ led the Cole Cougars to a 3A state finals berth in 2020. After a few seasons in prep school, he reported as a five-star freshman to Southern Cal in the summer of 2022, only to suffer a cardiac arrest at practice. After the health scare, Iwuchukwu never reached his potential with the Trojans, suffering a back injury that same season and playing only 14 games.

In 2023-24, he played another 31, averaging 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds. Despite the lackluster showing, coaches continued to recruit him. New USC coach Eric Musselman and SMU coach Andy Enfield both wanted him. Hoping for a fresh start, he elected to head east and go with Pitino at St. John’s in New York City.

Note: The following list most likely doesn’t include everyone from San Antonio in Division I, but I do feel like it’s fairly complete after keeping track of this from year to year. I’ll update the list as soon as new information comes to light.

San Antonio area athletes in NCAA Division I

Men’s basketball

Adam Benhayoune, LSU, a 6-5 senior guard from O’Connor HS

L.J. Brown, UTSA, a 6-3 sophomore guard from Johnson HS

Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Colorado State, a 6-8 sophomore forward from Warren HS, a transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock

Kendrick De Luna, Cal State-Fullerton, a 6-10 sophomore forward from TMI Episcopal

Damarion Dennis, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a 6-1 freshman guard from Veterans Memorial High School

Marques Gates, Houston Christian, a 5-11 junior guard from Clemens HS

Kaden Gumbs, Texas State, a 6-2 sophomore guard from San Marcos High School

Kalon Hargrove, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a 5-10 freshman guard from Harlan High School

Vincent Iwuchukwu, St. John’s, a 7-1 junior center, formerly of Cole HS, La Lumiere, Ind., Montverde Academy, Fla., Southern California Academy, a transfer from Southern Cal

Ja’Sean Jackson, Lamar, a 6-0 senior guard from Wagner, previously from Abilene Christian

Carlton Linguard Jr., San Francisco, a 7-foot graduate student center from Stevens High School, a transfer from UTSA, previously from Kansas State

Langston Love, Baylor, a 6-5 redshirt junior guard from Steele HS, Montverde Academy, Fla.

Jordan Mason, Illinois-Chicago, a 6-4 junior guard from Clark HS, a transfer from Texas State

Austin Nunez, Arizona State, a 6-2 junior guard from Wagner HS, transfer from Mississippi, previously at Arizona State

Ze’Rik Onyema, Texas, a 6-9 senior forward from Jay HS, previously from UTEP.

Malik Presley, Texas, a 6-6 sophomore guard-forward from San Marcos HS, a transfer from Vanderbilt.

Juan Reyna, Jackson State, a 6-3 graduate senior guard from Antonian; also Duncanville HS; a transfer from UTSA; also, formerly of Alabama State University and Campbell University.

Aidan Richard, Holy Cross, a 6-6 freshman forward from Reagan HS.

Brendan Wenzel, TCU, a 6-8 senior guard from O’Connor HS; transfer from Wyoming, formerly of Utah.

Athletes from San Antonio who played in high school out of the area

Zach Clemence, Kansas, a 6-11 redshirt junior forward, San Antonio native, from Sunrise Christian (Kan.)

Micah Peavy, Georgetown, a 6-7 graduate student forward, from Cibolo, Duncanville HS; a transfer from TCU, formerly of Texas Tech.

For real? Roadrunners storm past the St. Mary’s Rattlers, 90-38

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Jordyn Jenkins. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Jordyn Jenkins scored 23 points on 10 of 11 shooting from the field to lead the UTSA Roadrunners to an easy exhibition victory. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA women’s basketball fans on Friday night arrived at the Convocation Center, eager to catch their first glimpse of a team with high expectations for the new season.

They apparently liked what they saw.

Showing off talent up and down the roster, the Roadrunners stormed to a 90-38 exhibition victory over the NCAA Division II St. Mary’s Rattlers.

Cheyenne Rowe. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Cheyenne Rowe came off the bench to score 17 points on six of seven shooting. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Forwards Jordyn Jenkins scored 23 points and Cheyenne Rowe 17 for UTSA, a team that rode an 18-15 record all the way to the second round of the WNIT last March.

Coach Karen Aston was pleased with the effort to kick off the new year.

“Just happy to be playing again,” Aston said. “I think that’s the consensus probably for everyone, just excited to be back on the court again, to be back in the Convo. The players were ready to play someone else, for sure.”

Not only was Jenkins as good as advertised, but big performances off the bench from three post players — Rowe, freshman Taylor Ross and transfer Nyayongah Gony — left fans with the impression that the Roadrunners might be better than ever in Aston’s fourth season as coach.

“I think people are excited about our team,” Aston said. “I think they’re looking forward to the season starting. I hear it all the time. The fans that stuck around last year and came to the WNIT game, I think they were looking forward to our team this year, and I think the fans probably feel the same way we do, like it’s going to be a fun ride.”

Playing against smaller players in the paint, the UTSA posts enjoyed a big night. Particularly Jenkins, who hit 10 of 11 shots from the field to lead the Roadrunners to a 51.5 percent shooting performance. Rowe also was efficient by hitting six of seven afield.

Taylor Ross. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Freshman Taylor Ross had 15 points and 10 rebounds in her first college game.– Photo by Joe Alexander.

Ross, from San Antonio’s Brennan High School, emerged with a double-double in her first college game, producing 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Shooting the ball well, she muscled inside to hit four of five from the floor. Rebounding with a purpose, she also pulled down five of her boards off the offensive glass.

Gony, a transfer from Mississippi State who has also played at Miami, showed a wide variety of skills and produced 10 points, five rebounds and a blocked shot.

Standing 6-feet-4 and moving well on quick feet, she had the crowd buzzing a few times in the first half with eye-opening sequences.

On one play, she made a catch on a long pass and scored well in front of retreating defenders. On a few others, she’d either grab a rebound or force a turnover and then start dribbling up the floor.

It’s not something that UTSA fans have seen very often, if at all, someone that tall who can make a defensive stop on one end and then take off on a few dribbles to the other end of the court.

Overall, the Roadrunners just kept sending waves of long and talented athletes at the Rattlers.

Sidney Love. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA junior Sidney Love produced six points, five assists and three rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“We’ve talked about playing with more length and more active bodies that we could throw at teams for an entire game or for a majority of the game, which I think could be a positive for a lot of reasons,” Aston said.

She likes the concept because, she said, more players get to play and get involved in the game. Also, because the pressure can wear down an opponent.

“I love teams that can do that,” Aston said. “We haven’t had that here until this year. I think if everybody stays healthy and we stay on the same page, we can probably try to implement this more and more as the season goes along.”

For St. Mary’s, guard Charli Graziano came off the bench to score eight points, including a couple of three-point buckets. For the most part, UTSA’s defense stifled St. Mary’s, limiting the Rattlers to 11 field goals and 27.5 percent shooting.

UTSA will play at Texas A&M next Thursday to open the regular season.

Notable

UTSA center Idara Udo came out of the game late in the first quarter when she took contact and fell to the floor. She left the court limping and later sat on the bench with an ice bag on her knee.

In all, the Roadrunners played 14 players and 11 of them scored. Sophomore guard Aysia Proctor was the only one on the roster not to get into the game.

Guard Nina De Leon Negron, a newcomer and a transfer from Incarnate Word, started and produced four points and four assists.

Nyayongah Gony. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Six-foot-four forward Nyayongah Gony raised eyebrows with a variety of skills, including the ability to bring the ball up court on the dribble. The Mississippi State transfer had 10 points and five rebounds and a blocked shot. – Photo by Joe Alexander

A ‘long, hard summer’ is over as UTSA women’s basketball prepares for exhibition play

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Sidney Love. Temple defeated UTSA 56-48 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Junior guard Sidney Love is a returning two-year starter for the UTSA Roadrunners, who finished 18-15 and reached the second round of the WNIT last season. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Finally, the UTSA women’s basketball team on Friday night will welcome fans and players from another university into the Convocation Center.

The Roadrunners will host the St. Mary’s University Rattlers in an exhibition starting at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.

“It’s been a long, hard summer,” UTSA guard Sidney Love said. “We’ve been grinding since June, so we’re ready to make our hard work pay off.”

Coming off an 18-15 run to the second round of the WNIT for their best season in 15 years, the Roadrunners will take the floor tonight with high expectations.

In the Rattlers, the Roadrunners likely will get their first test of an underdog opponent who will play with passion, trying to knock them off.

When they face a more talented team, as they will next Thursday at Texas A&M in the regular-season opener, they’ll be confronted with foes that will lock in mentally, knowing that UTSA might have the talent to spring a surprise. Even on the road, against the nation’s power elite.

Basically, everyone they play will be in upset mode, on high motor, high alert, or a combination of all of the above.

“Every year I’ve been here, we’ve been doing better each season,” UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins said. “You know, I think the challenges are just whatever we have within ourselves. You know (I think) it’s going to be us that’s going to hold us back. We have a lot of talent. We have some newcomers that really get our chemistry going.”

Notable

The game will mark the fans’ first chance to see the fourth edition of Coach Karen Aston’s Roadrunners in action against an opponent. A program that won two games in the season before Aston’s arrival won 18 games last year for the most in a season since 2008-09. The basketball program is in its 44th season overall and its second in the American Athletic Conference.

UTSA roster

Siena Guttadauro, 5-6 guard, junior from San Jose, Calif.
Alexis Parker, 5-9 guard, junior from San Antonio (Brandeis High School)
Emma Lucio, 5-9 guard, sophomore from Edinburg (Vela High School)
Damara Allen, 5-10 guard, freshman from Aurora, Colo.
Mia Hammonds, 6-3 guard, freshman from Cibolo (Steele High School)
Nyayongah Gony, 6-4 forward, redshirt senior from Lincoln, Neb., transfer from Mississippi State, also formerly of the University of Miami
Nina De Leon Negron, 5-6 guard, graduate senior from San Juan, Puerto Rico, transfer from the University of the Incarnate Word, also formerly of Austin Peay
Sidney Love, 5-8 guard, junior from Cibolo (Steele High School)
Aysia Proctor, 5-8 guard, sophomore from Schertz (Clemens High School)
Taylor Ross, 6-1 forward, freshman from San Antonio (Brennan High School)
Maya Linton, 5-11 forward, junior from Duncanville
Cheyenne Rowe, 6-2 forward, junior from Ajax, Ontario, Canada; played for UTSA last season as a transfer from James Madison
Idara Udo, 6-1 center-forward, sophomore from Plano
Jordyn Jenkins, 6-0 forward, redshirt senior from Kent, Wash., played the past two seasons at UTSA, transfer from Southern Cal
Emilia Dannebauer, 6-4 forward-center, freshman from Berlin, Germany

Roadrunners haven’t spent much time worrying about an AAC preseason slight

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA Roadrunners didn’t get much love from coaches in the American Athletic Conference during the league’s media days a few weeks ago. The coaches picked UTSA in a tie for 11th place in the 13-team AAC.

UTSA center Mo Njie says that players haven’t spent much time discussing it.

“People don’t really believe in us,” said Njie, a 6-foot-11 SMU transfer. “They don’t think we have the talent or the skill to come out and perform. But, I mean, I think that’s the beauty of it, honestly. Now we have the chance to come together and really show what UTSA basketball is all about.”

The Roadrunners will conduct an intra-squad scrimmage on Wednesday and then will make final preparations over the weekend in advance of the season opener against Trinity University on Monday, with game time set for 6:30 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

“It’s time to get out here and see where we are, see where we need to get better,” first-year coach Austin Claunch said . “I expect us to play well (in the opener), but I also don’t expect that to be the team you see in March, either.

“We’re going to have to make strides throughout the course of the year on both sides of the ball and really lean into know who we are and figure out our identity as we go. But, no, we’re excited to get out here and compete.”

Notable

Guard Tai’Reon Joseph’s playing status for the season opener remains in question because of a waiver request to the NCAA that remains unsettled. Joseph, a 20-point scorer at Southern University last season, is believed to be sidelined for the first seven games unless UTSA gets a reprieve.

“He’ll play at some point for UTSA,” Claunch said. “You’ll certainly see him in the AAC (games) and hopefully sooner than that.”

Joseph, one of the team’s most explosive offensive players, was held out of UTSA’s 21-point exhibition setback at Southern Cal because of the eligibility question. In a scrimmage against McNeese 10 days ago, he scored 11 points, knocking down a couple of three-pointers.

Making a statement? Ross finishes UTSA workout with a 3-point shooting flourish

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Taylor Ross. UTSA women's basketball at the Convocation Center on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. - photo by Joe Alexander

Taylor Ross, a UTSA freshman from Brennan High School, showed off her long-distance shooting touch in a drill at the end of Monday’s practice. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

I’ve seen the UTSA women’s basketball team practice probably a half a dozen times since July, and it seems like each time I come out to watch at the Convocation Center, a different player catches my attention.

Four months ago, a few days before the 4th of July holiday, I remember a workout that featured UIW transfer and point guard Nina De Leon Negron running the court and setting up the offense with slick ball handling and passing.

I noticed her touch passes into the paint, right on Jordyn Jenkins’ fingertips.

Later on, it was junior guard Siena Guttadauro, a returning player who didn’t see the floor much last season, coming on strong with confident play in the backcourt. In addition, I also remember Mississippi State transfer Nyayongah Gony.

The lithe, 6-foot-4 post seemed a bit out of synch on my first trip to campus. But slowly, step by step, she started to get better and better. In the last two or three workouts in a row that I’ve witnessed, Gony stood out with her speed, defensive agility and rebounding.

She was good again on Monday when she’d sprint in drills with multiple players on the floor, each of them combining to push the ball from end to end with long passes, all in an effort to get as many layups as possible in a certain amount of time.

Finally, as the workout was winding down, another player popped up on my radar. Six-foot-one freshman Taylor Ross drilled her first attempt in a three-point shooting drill. The shot looked smooth, so I kept my eye on her.

Pretty sure she knocked down five threes in a row, from different angles, before missing her last two. Other players seemed to have a pretty good rhythm, as well, with several knocking down triples from the corner, the wing and the top.

But it was Ross, a first-year college player from San Antonio’s Brennan High School, who seemed to have it really going on, perhaps trying to make a statement.

Playing power forward on a talented team, Ross is battling behind the likes of Jenkins, a preseason all-conference pick, and Gony, who has experience at both the University of Miami and Mississippi State, so finding playing time for her might be a challenge.

At least, initially.

“It’s going to take her awhile to get used to the speed of the game and the physicality, but she’s one we’re super excited about,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “She does have a lot of versatility, and she can stretch the floor at that four (position).

“I think she’s going to learn a lot from playing with someone as experienced as Jordyn.”

Last season, the Roadrunners were a team that excelled with their defense and their rebounding. They ranked among the national leaders in both categories in finishing 18-15 and making it all the way to the WNIT quarterfinals.

This year, Aston will demand excellence on the defensive end, as she always does, but it might be unfair to expect them to be as good as last year on that end of the floor.

Last season, with center Elyssa Coleman patrolling the paint and Kyra White on the perimeter, UTSA shut down opponents, holding them to 64 points and 36 percent shooting. Both players have moved on in their careers, leaving the Roadrunners to search for a new identity.

Could they find it with more proficient perimeter shooting? Based on early reports, they have a chance.

“I think we’ll possibly hit the three a little bit better,” Aston said. “Maybe (we’ll) be a little more versatile. I think our post players have created a little more range in their shooting. They’ve gotten to a place where they’re a little more confident facing up to the basket than they were last year.”

In the frontcourt, both Jenkins and Idara Udo seem capable of hitting from distances beyond where they have shot in the past. Jenkins hit some from three last year after she returned from knee rehabilitation, and she looks comfortable again from that distance.

In the backcourt, freshman shooting guard Aysia Proctor did the most damage for the Roadrunners last season, making a team-high 40 triples on 38.5 percent.

But this year, she should have help from the other guards, namely point guards Guttadauro, De Leon Negron and Sidney Love.

Guttadauro, a 5-6 junior from San Jose, Calif., might have the most upside potential to get hot and sink the long ball in bunches, but all three can hit it. In addition, freshmen Damara Allen and Mia Hammonds have both shown flashes, as well.

Last year, the Roadrunners struggled mightily from the three-point line. They shot 29.4 percent to rank 11th in the American Athletic Conference and 240th out of some 360 teams in NCAA Division I.

“We’ve emphasized it a lot,” Aston said. “We have spent a lot more time on it … quite a bit more time than I have in the past, in practice. But, you know, they got to show up and do it in a game.”

Notable

UTSA will host San Antonio’s St. Mary’s University Rattlers, a Division II program, on Friday night in its one and only exhibition. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners will open the regular season on Nov. 7 at Texas A&M.

Center Jaquan Scott finds his rhythm with UTSA basketball

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Jaquan Scott. The UTSA men's basketball team on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Mississippi State transfer Jaquan Scott is expected to play center and power forward for the Roadrunners. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Center Jaquan Scott rebounded above the rim, defended and also made his fair share of shots from the field Thursday afternoon at UTSA.

Afterward, a visitor was waiting for Roadrunners coach Austin Claunch as he left his office, asking, “So Jaquan decided to take over practice today?”

Claunch didn’t disagree with the premise to an obviously leading question.

“He had a great day,” the coach replied, noting that a good week of work for Scott started last Saturday in Houston.

That was the day that UTSA played the McNeese State Cowboys, the defending champions in the Southland Conference.

The Cowboys, who won 30 games and made an NCAA tournament appearance last March, had to rally from a 12-point deficit in the second half to beat the Roadrunners by three. Claunch confirmed that Scott played well against McNeese.

“Scored and rebounded and guarded at a high level,” Claunch said. “He’s just really confident right now. He’s getting into a rhythm of how he’s going to be effective for us. I really like where he’s at. I think he’s just starting to scratch the surface.”

Scott, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound transfer from Mississippi State University, is expected to play both power forward and center as a senior this season for the Roadrunners.

He seemed to revel in extra work Thursday that came his way because of an injury that has sidelined center Mo Njie. Especially at the defensive end, Scott seemed to have a bounce in his step.

Springing for rebounds and guarding the paint, he made his presence known. For the Roadrunners, it’s a good time for the big man to emerge, with the season opener scheduled Nov. 4 at home against Trinity University.

Asked where Scott would play once the season starts, Claunch indicated that coaches will have options.

“To be honest, he was really good as a small-ball five (at center) against McNeese,” Claunch said. “But also, if we want to go bigger, we can play him at the four. We’re still trying to figure out our best lineups. But, certainly, we feel confident with him on the floor regardless.”

In closed scrimmages, fans aren’t allowed to watch and statistics aren’t posted, so it’s hard to assess the team’s play objectively.

But coaches seemed pleased with the way the Roadrunners battled from behind, trailing by double digits at the half and then surging into a double-digit lead down the stretch.

“I thought we played really well,” Claunch said. “Obviously that’s a good team over there. Well coached. They have tournament experience. They have a coach (Will Wade) who’s coached at a high level.

“They have really good players. They’re an older group that has NCAA tournament aspirations like us.

“I thought we played well. We were down a little bit. Then we went on a run. Got up a little and it was a dogfight. A close game at the end.”

Scott grew up in the DFW area and played at Mansfield Timberview for one season. He also played two seasons for Universal Academy in Irving and one season at the TLAP Academy in Tallahassee, Fla.

Out of prep school, he spent two years at Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, Utah, where he averaged 16.8 points and 10.0 rebounds as a sophomore.

At Mississippi State last season, he played sparingly, appearing in only 11 games, averaging 1.2 points and 1.5 rebounds.

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Hall of Fame focus: The day Derrick Gervin shook off a bad haircut and scored 51 points

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Former UTSA men's basketball star Derrick Gervin was at the Convocation Center on Thursday afternoon to talk to this season's team. Gervin is a member of the 2024 UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame. - photo by Joe Alexander

Former UTSA men’s basketball star Derrick Gervin (left) returned to the Convocation Center Thursday and addressed the team. UTSA head coach Austin Claunch (right) listened in as Gervin spoke for about five minutes. Gervin, who played three years for the Roadrunners in the 1980s, is a member of the 2024 UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

On a foggy, cold and snowy January day in San Antonio in 1985, Derrick Gervin was having some fun, sitting around and talking with friends Ike Thornton, Alden Wren and Ken Jones.

The goal for the UTSA Roadrunners’ high-scoring forward was to hang out with his teammates, stay loose and mentally prepare himself to play that night at home against the Baylor Bears.

Suddenly, a bad-hair moment threatened the good vibes.

While giving himself a trim with clippers, Gervin accidentally chopped out a section of hair near his forehead. Whoops. Surveying the damage in the mirror, Gervin knew he would need to take remedial action.

Former UTSA men's basketball star Derrick Gervin was at the Convocation Center on Thursday afternoon to talk to this season's team. Gervin is a member of the 2024 UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame. - photo by Joe Alexander

Former UTSA forward Derrick Gervin averaged 21.1 points and 8.6 rebounds over three seasons with the Roadrunners in the 1980s. – Photo by Joe Alexander

So, he shaved his head. Then he called his mother to let her know what had happened and to tell her that he would be on his way to her house to take a pre-game nap.

When Geraldine Gervin saw him, she was taken aback. “Boy, what did you do?” she asked her son, who once had wore a sizable Afro while growing up in Detroit. Irritated and upset with himself for the grooming gaffe, Derrick did his best to shake off the moment.

He hit the pillow and slept, snoozing away in a 2 and 1/2-hour pre-game nap. Later that evening, with 2.4 inches of snow accumulating outside, he showed up at the Convocation Center and clipped the Bears, scoring a school-record 51 points in a 101-91 victory.

Gervin, speaking Friday morning in a telephone interview with The JB Replay, had a hearty laugh about the episode on the day that he will be inducted into the UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame.

“I went to Ike’s apartment. I would go see the guys in the daytime, and then I would go home and take my nap,” the 61-year-old Gervin said. “All my career, I would make sure I took a nap. I would eat, and I would make sure I got my sleep.

“So, this day, I go out there to Ike’s, and I’m talking to him. It was Ike and Alden Wren — rest in peace. Alden died on my birthday two years ago. On my birthday — (but) I’m out there with them. So we all go to Ike’s apartment. I’m in there cutting my hair and talking to Ike and Ken Jones.

“Ken was quite a comedian, I’ll say. Quite a guy. Personality was something else. So I’m talking to those guys while I’m cutting my hair. And I forgot to put the guard on my hair (clippers). So when I cut my hair, all I could hear was, grrr, grrr.”

Immediately, he knew something was wrong.

“I look in the mirror, and I have a big ol’ patch in my hair. I’m like, ‘… Oh, my God. What can I do?’ (Now) I got to cut all my hair off. Before I’m even finished cutting, I call my mom, and I say, ‘Mom, I messed up my hair. And I’m going to have to cut it all off.’ ”

Later, after he arrived at his mother’s place, and after hearing her admonition, he dozed off into a slumber. The weather. The hair cut experience. The impending game with Baylor. All of it combined to ruffle his usually unflappable demeanor.

As he sunk deeper and deeper into sleep, though, something changed. The unflappable Gervin started to re-emerge. When he awoke, he looked at himself and said, ‘Man, it’s just hair. I talked to Ike. I called him and he was like, ‘Man, we got a game tonight. You can’t be focused on your hair.’ ”

Former UTSA men's basketball star Derrick Gervin was at the Convocation Center on Thursday afternoon to talk to this season's team. Gervin is a member of the 2024 UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame. - photo by Joe Alexander

After UTSA, Gervin played professional basketball until he was 38 years old, including parts of two seasons in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets. – Photo by Joe Alexander

When Gervin arrived at the Convo, he immediately dressed out in his warmups so he could get on the floor and start to hoist some shots.

“I just had a different feeling,” he said. “I just felt like I was ready, and I blocked everything out. I just felt good going into that (game).

“They had a guy on Baylor, who was the leading scorer at the time, by the name of Carlos Briggs. Carlos is from Detroit. They also had Eric Johnson. Who was Vinnie Johnson’s brother.

“So I wanted to make a statement. I’m playing against Carlos, who was a known scorer from Detroit, and Vinnie Johnson’s little brother. So I wanted to shine that night.”

It didn’t take long for fans in the building to realize that they were seeing something special. Gervin hit his first few shot attempts and kept hitting. Shot after shot. By halftime, he had 31 points.

By the end of the game, he had knocked down 22 of 32 from the field and seven of eight from the free-throw line. He also had 18 rebounds.

For the season, the younger brother of Spurs legend and former four-time NBA scoring champion George Gervin averaged 25.6 points and 9.6 rebounds for the Roadrunners. In his three-year career, the former prep standout at Detroit’s Martin Luther King High school averaged 21.1 and 8.6.

His play, more than anyone at that time, put UTSA on the athletics map in the second, third and fourth seasons of the program. For the 1981-82 team, the inaugural season of men’s basketball at the school, it was a struggle.

Derrick Gervin watches a UTSA men's basketball game at the UTSA Convocation Center on Feb. 13, 2020. Gervin holds the UTSA men's basketball single-season scoring record (718 points in 1984-85). He is the second player in program history to have his jersey retired. - photo by Joe Alexander

Derrick Gervin played for more than 10 seasons overseas, in locales such as Spain, Argentina, Italy, Turkey and Israel, where he won MVP honors in 1995. Today, Gervin says he coaches and trains young ball players, does autograph signings, produces podcasts and hopes to do more public speaking. His email address is dgervin21@gmail.com. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Outmatched in size and experience, the Roadrunners slogged to an 8-19 record.

After Gervin arrived, in 1982-83, ’83-84 and ’84-85, they improved to 10-17, and then to 20-8 and 18-10. In his second season at UTSA, the Roadrunners won 13 in a row and nearly made the NIT.

Moreover, in his last two seasons, the Roadrunners routinely defeated teams from the old Southwest Conference.

So, as for the Hall of Fame induction after all these years, what does this day mean to Derrick Gervin? Perhaps, it is validation that a young man from inner-city Detroit achieved what his mother always wanted him to achieve.

“I just got through watching my brother’s documentary, just thinking about how we came from the city of Detroit, from the inner city,” he said. “And to make it out of there with my mom raising the six of us by herself, and keeping us out of bad situations.

“She always kept us in programs, just kept us active, doing positive things in the community. She didn’t allow us to get caught up in the inner city life. Detroit was very rough. And we were fortunate, because I had two older brothers, as well, that were very known in the city.”

Gervin, who played professional basketball until he was 38 years old, including parts of two seasons with the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, admitted that he has been thinking about his late mother today.

A woman of strong conviction, she supported all her kids, even on days when they came home crying about hair cuts gone awry.

“I think about her every day,” Gervin said. “I’m trying not to get emotional talking to you about her now. But, yeah, she’s smiling down on me. For her not to be here is kind of sweet and bitter. You know, some sweet, some bitter.

“I wish she could be here. But, she is here. She’s watching down on all of us.”

Notable

UTSA Athletics will honor its second Hall of Fame class this weekend. Derrick Gervin (men’s basketball), Monica Gibbs (women’s basketball), Michael Rockett (baseball), Starlite Williams (women’s basketball, track & field) and Teddy Williams (men’s track & field) will be inducted in a ceremony on Friday night at Pedrotti’s Ranch. On Saturday morning, their Hall of Fame plaques will be unveiled at the Roadrunner Athletic Center of Excellence on campus, and the group will be recognized on the field between the first and second quarters of the Homecoming football game against Florida Atlantic that afternoon at the Alamodome.

UTSA’s Claunch sees a ‘positive light’ in lessons learned at USC

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Austin Claunch. UTSA men's and women's basketball teams at Rowdy Jam at the Convocation Center on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Austin Claunch, encouraged by his team’s competitive spirit in a 21-point loss at USC on Tuesday night, nevertheless said he wants his team to learn from their mistakes. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Competing with a fiery purpose against a Power 4 team and playing their first exhibition game on the road, the UTSA Roadrunners finally started to unravel in the last 12 minutes Tuesday night.

They trailed by only three points at halftime and by four when floor leader Primo Spears popped in a 13-foot jumper with 12:13 remaining. From there, the USC Trojans kicked it into gear, obviously intent on winning big for first-year coach Eric Musselman on their home court at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

The Trojans took advantage of a few poor possessions by the Roadrunners and ignited a 31-14 run to the end of the game, en route to an 84-63 victory.

On Wednesday night, first-year UTSA coach Austin Claunch sat in his office, trying to unpack all the emotions emanating from his debut game with the Roadrunners.

His team, playing without guard Tai’Reon Joseph, one of its top athletes, stayed within striking distance for almost three fourths of the game.

“Overall, I thought the experience was great,” Claunch said. “I thought there were more things to take away in a positive light than not.”

Before the team left the arena, the coach told his players a story. He told them how the Alabama Crimson Tide failed to win in the preseason last year.

“And we made the Final Four,” said Claunch, who worked as an assistant last year in Tuscaloosa. “So these games, win or lose, you got to learn to get better.”

More than anything, he stressed that if a team wants to be good in March, it needs to learn how to handle pressure situations.

“We got to learn to be tougher in those moments and not break down and not give them easy baskets,” he said. “They didn’t give us anything easy. Everything that we got in that game was earned. They made us work.

“And on the flip side, there were just moments where we didn’t make them work for baskets. At the highest level of basketball, you can’t do that.”

Claunch said he held Joseph out as UTSA awaits word from the NCAA on a waiver.

“There’s a waiver process that we’re waiting on,” the coach said. “I’m not going to dig into the details of it. A lot (happened) over the last couple of months, and we realized we needed to file this waiver for him. He’s going to get it, is what it looks like. He hasn’t gotten it yet. We were expecting to hear at the end of last week (and) we didn’t. We were hoping to hear Monday. By the time the game started (Tuesday), we didn’t.”

Joseph is a transfer from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. A jet-quick, 6-foot-3 guard, he has played extremely well in preseason practices at UTSA. Last year, Joseph led the Southwestern Athletic Conference in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game.

Claunch said he hopes to be able to play Joseph on Saturday in Houston against the Will Wade-coached McNeese State University Cowboys. The contest is a closed scrimmage, and no fans are allowed to watch. It is the final scrimmage of preseason for the Roadrunners, who open at home on Nov. 4 against Trinity University.

The coach said he planned to start Joseph against the Trojans in Los Angeles. “He’s been playing great in practice, obviously,” Claunch said. “You’ve seen it, and how he plays.”

Even without Joseph, the Roadrunners held their own for the first half, trailing only 35-32 at the intermission break. After reviewing the game tape twice, Claunch described the team’s defense on USC as “pretty elite” for the first 20 minutes of the game.

“To go into their place in the first half and to keep it close, we felt good,” Claunch said.

Offensively, it was another story. The Roadrunners misfired on eight of their first 11 shots from the field against the switching style of the Trojans defensively.

“We felt like the lid was going to come off that rim (for us) at some point,” the coach said. “But you know, they actually did a great job. They made it hard on us. They were switching one through five., which was tough, especially with their length and their athleticism.”

Spears, unofficially, was 0 for 6 from the field in the first half. Heating up after halftime, he finished 5 of 16 for 14 points. He also had two assists and two steals. Marcus “Smurf” Millender finished with 12 points and four assists. As a team, the Roadrunners shot 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from three (7 of 29).

On Monday, Spears was in the Dallas area speaking with reporters at an American Athletic Conference media event, so he didn’t get to practice the day before the game. The only chance he had to shoot in the arena was at shootaround on Tuesday morning, which could have affected his rhythm, Claunch said.

Near the end of the first half, when he was on the bench in foul trouble, coaches noticed that he seemed engaged and into the game.

“When I took him out, I told him, “We’ll see how the half goes’ ” Claunch said. ” ‘Maybe I’ll put you back in. Maybe I won’t.’ And he was great. I think he showed leadership over there on the bench, keeping guys positive. Good energy. That, to me, is good for just the long-term success for this program, with guys understanding that some moments are their (moments) and some are their teammates.

“I think Primo is doing a fantastic job at being a leader and a pillar of this program.”