Category Archives: College basketball

Claunch and four assistants will lead UTSA basketball’s rebuild

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Austin Claunch was introduced at the new UTSA head men's basketball coach at a public news conference on Thursday, April 11, 2024. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA athletic director Lisa Campos introduces men’s basketball coach Austin Claunch to the media Thursday at the Park West Fieldhouse. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA men’s basketball coach Austin Claunch, in his first face-to-face meeting with the San Antonio media, on Thursday named his four-man staff to include Trevor DeLoach, Nick Bowman, Joseph Jones and Joey Brooks.

Together, the 34-year-old Claunch and his team of assistants will start to rebuild a program that has lost more than 20 games in each of the last three seasons.

“The vision is to cut down the nets in the Convo,” said Claunch, who won 90 games and two Southland Conference titles in a five-year run as head coach at Nicholls State (La.) through the 2022-23 season.

This past season, Claunch worked as an assistant at Alabama.

UTSA hired him on March 17 after the Crimson Tide’s trip to the Southeastern Conference tournament. The plan called for him to remain at Alabama to fulfill his duties until the team completed its run in the NCAA tournament.

The ride for Alabama took Claunch all the way to the Final Four in Arizona, where the Tide lost in the NCAA semifinals last Saturday.

By Tuesday, he was in San Antonio, throwing out the first pitch at a Roadrunners softball game. On Thursday afternoon, Claunch arrived for a introductory news conference that had the feel of a pep rally at times.

During his remarks to reporters, Claunch named his four UTSA assistants. Here they are:

Austin Claunch was introduced at the new UTSA head men's basketball coach at a public news conference on Thursday, April 11, 2024. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Austin Claunch met the media on Thursday and announced a four-man coaching staff. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Trevor DeLoach — Spent the past three seasons at Jacksonville (Fla.) University under head coach Jordan Mincy. Before Jacksonville, he worked under Claunch as associate head coach at Nicholls State (La.) DeLoach played at North Carolina-Wilmington, where he was team captain for three seasons.

Nick Bowman — Worked last season as the lead assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of New Orleans under head coach Mark Slessinger. Bowman also worked under Claunch at Nicholls. He was with Claunch all five seasons.

Joseph Jones — Jones is the reigning coach of the year in the Western Athletic Conference. He helped guide Tarleton State University to a 25-win season. Last fall, he entered his fourth season as an assistant under head coach Billy Gillispie. But after four games, Gillispie had to step away from the team to deal with health issues, and Jones took over as interim coach. Jones, formerly one of Gillispie’s premier players at Texas A&M, led Tarleton to the WAC semifinals and later to the CIT Semifinals. Tarleton recently extended Gillispie’s contract through the 2025-26 season.

Joey Brooks — Brooks and Claunch were high school teammates at Strake Jesuit Preparatory in Houston. Brooks later went on to play 80 games in three seasons for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Last season, he worked as an assistant at Coastal Carolina. Brooks has also worked at Notre Dame, Purdue, Cal State Fullerton and at Nicholls State.

Claunch expressed confidence in the new staff.

“First and foremost, they’re guys you can trust. And (they’re) going to care about the student-athletes, and care about the school and the community,” the coach said. “These guys aren’t going to be strangers. You’re going to see them at events. You’re going to see them at other sporting events …

“They’re people that I trust. They’re people that I know care about me, and immediately it’s got to start with that. When the staff doesn’t have the camaraderie, players can sense that. So you got to build a staff of guys that are on one accord, and working toward the same thing.”

Claunch and staff will work in coming weeks on the roster for the 2024-25 season. First, they’ll meet with players from last year’s squad starting Friday. By next week, the coaches hope to start hosting some recruits.

The coach will rely heavily on DeLoach, Bowman, Jones and Brooks to help with the rebuild.

“Obviously, recruiting is going to be imperative,” Claunch said. “We’ve got to be able to recruit Texas. But then we’ve also got to get in the portal and get guys from there. Got to have guys (on the coaching staff) who have experienced winning, which they all do at different levels.”

Notable

It’s been a hectic three weeks for Claunch since UTSA hired him. But, fun, as well.

As his new job in San Antonio beckoned, he also remained committed fully to working with the Crimson Tide until the end of their postseason run. In that regard, the Tide just kept winning and made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four. Alabama was eliminated by eventual champion Connecticut in the NCAA semifinals last Saturday.

The coach said it wasn’t that difficult to balance the two jobs simultaneously because he was so excited to work hard at both of them.

“Sometimes when you’ve got two things and you don’t want to do either one, you just want to sleep all day,” he said. “This was easy to get up and get to work and maybe go on less sleep because I was so excited and anxious to get here and get to work, and obviously within the past few weeks we’ve started doing that remotely and started to turn the tires (with the UTSA program) a little bit.

Carlton Linguard Jr. Temple beat UTSA 84-82 in the Roadrunners' final home game of the men's basketball season on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Will 7-foot forward Carlton Linguard Jr. return to play for the Roadrunners? Linguard, formerly of Stevens High School in San Antonio, averaged 9.4 points and 5.9 rebounds last season. – File photo by Joe Alexander

“But then with Alabama, and the NCAA tournament — it was my first one — (an) incredible (feeling). I was going to experience everything that came with that. And that was long nights of scouts, and watching games and (talking) on the phone.”

Claunch marveled at the Crimson Tide’s togetherness and how they made it all happen.

“I’m not sure anyone really expected us to be in Phoenix,” he said. “We just came together, and round by round, just kept pushing. It was an incredible couple of weeks. I enjoyed every moment of it. But I am beyond excited to be sitting here in San Antonio now and working.”

Claunch said he “kinda sorta” tried to do some recruiting for the Roadrunners while he was handling his duties for the Tide during the tournament.

“I’ll say this,” he said. “The (transfer) portal is crazy right now. (But), first of all, the most important recruits are the guys in your program. I got to sit down with these guys and talk about our vision and how each of them fit within our style and what we do. (Also) their expectations. And kind of sort through all that.

“One thing I’ve learned in recruiting — you want to move fast, but you don’t want to rush. I mean, we want to get guys on campus next week, and kind of start having visits in that regard. But let’s identify the guys that we love and (guys) that fit with what we want to do, and when we do that, we’ll be fine.”

Roster rebuild looms

As expected, multiple players from last year’s UTSA team hit the transfer portal, including guards Jordan Ivy-Curry and Adante’ Holiman, who have already announced their commitments on social media to play elsewhere.

Ivy-Curry, UTSA’s leading scorer last season, has indicated he will go to Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Holiman is headed for Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt, a move that was confirmed by the player’s father earlier this week.

Others who reportedly have entered the portal include point guard Christian Tucker, the assist leader in the American Athletic Conference, and forwards Trey Edmonds, Massal Diouf and Chandler Cuthrell.

Edmonds attended the news conference and confirmed that he is in the portal. He said he is weighing his options.

PJ Carter. UTSA men's basketball lost to Army 63-53 on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

PJ Carter averaged 9.5 points and shot 40 percent from three-point range last season. He came on strong at the end with 16 three pointers in his last four games. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Scholarship players not in the portal who might be the most likely to return would be 7-foot center Carlton Linguard Jr., guard P.J. Carter, guard-forward Justin Thomas and possibly guard-forward Dre Fuller Jr.

Both Carter and Linguard can shoot the three. In addition, Linguard is also a rebounder and a rim protector. Fuller and Thomas, long and rangy wing players, might fit well into the coach’s plan to play aggressive defense and force turnovers.

Earlier in the day Thursday, Fuller said he’d like to return for an extra season, but that he didn’t know what he would do until he talked to the new coaches. The same is likely true for Thomas, who sat out as a redshirt last season.

A native of Baton Rouge, La., the 6-foot-7 Thomas might be UTSA’s most talented player. He averaged 7.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in 2022-23 at Milwaukee in the Horizon League.

Other players on the UTSA roster who apparently are not in the portal at the moment are guards Nazar Mahmoud, Blessing Adesipe, Juan Reyna and Josh Reid. Both Reyna and Reid are walk-ons and are not on scholarship.

Adesipe said it’s been an emotional time since the Roadrunners elected on March 14 not to renew former coach Steve Henson’s contract.

“Obviously, I got recruited by Henson and his staff,” said Adesipe, who sat out the season as a redshirt. “I built a connection with them. Being a transfer here and only being here for a couple of months, and now having to rotate and go into another set of coaches, is tough.”

Adesipe showcased significant athleticism and ability to play at the Division I level during in-season workouts, which were all open to the media. Now, he needs to prove it to a coaching staff that didn’t recruit him.

“It’s like basically getting a new job or getting a new boss,” he said. “You don’t know what they want or what their expectations are. I’m coming into this with an open mind, trying to stay in shape and stay ready for whatever Austin wants me to do. Obviously excited to see what he’s bringing in.”

Reyna, a San Antonio native who played in high school at Antonian, also sat out the year as a redshirt. He said he wants to play for the Roadrunners next season. But he said he’d also like to be offered a scholarship. “I feel like I’m a scholarship player,” he said.

Jenkins, Coleman return to UTSA women’s basketball for 2024-25

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Forwards Jordyn Jenkins and Elyssa Coleman will return to play for a resurgent UTSA women’s basketball team next season, coach Karen Aston said.

Both players opted into the extra year of eligibility granted to college athletes whose careers were affected by the Covid pandemic, which wiped out the 2019-20 NCAA postseason in both men’s and women’s basketball.

“I’m so excited that these two young women have the desire and commitment to stay at UTSA and help to continue to move the needle,” Aston said in a UTSA news release.

Jenkins averaged 17.1 points and 6.9 rebounds in 12 games after returning from a 10-month knee injury rehabilitation. She also shot 47.9 percent from the field.

Jenkins played two seasons at Southern Cal before transferring. The 6-footer from Kent, Wash., became an all-Pac 12 player at USC as a sophomore in 2021-22. In 22-’23, she averaged 20.6 points in her first year with the Roadrunners and was named Conference USA Player of the Year.

Coleman spent one season at the University of Texas in ’20-21 but did not play because of an injury. Opting to leave the Longhorns, the 6-foot-3 post from the Houston area has been a fixture with the Roadrunners for the past three seasons.

Last season, she averaged 10.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and had 45 blocked shots in 32 games.

UTSA women’s basketball has enjoyed a renaissance over the past three seasons. In the year before Aston’s arrival, the Roadrunners finished 2-18 and 0-14 in Conference USA. With Aston at the helm, the team improved to finish 7-23, 13-19 and 18-15 over the next three seasons.

Last season, the Roadrunners ended a drought of eight years with losing records. After securing the No. 4 seed in the American Athletic Conference postseason tournament, they won a game and then lost in the semifinals.

But with the winning record, they reached the national postseason for the first time since 2009 by accepting a berth in the WNIT. When they defeated Northern Colorado in the WNIT first round, it was the first postseason victory in program history.

UTSA bowed out in the WNIT’s second round with a loss at Wyoming.

Basketball: An 18-win season comes to an end for the UTSA women

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By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

Malene Pedersen poured in 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first half as the Wyoming Cowgirls dominated early in an 80-64 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners in the second round of the WNIT.

Playing at home, the Cowgirls of the Mountain West Conference pushed out to a 25-point lead at halftime and then held off the Roadrunners to advance to the tournament’s round of 16.

As the game ended in Laramie, Wyo., so, too, did the Roadrunners’ best season in 15 years. UTSA finished with an 18-15 record for its first winning season since 2015. The 18 wins were the most by a women’s basketball team at UTSA since the 2009 squad won 24.

UTSA also went 10-8 to finish tied for fourth in the American Athletic Conference. Playing in the American for the first time, the Roadrunners won a game at the AAC tournament and then bowed out in the semifinals.

Even with the loss, they advanced to the WNIT and won at home last Thursday in the first round, beating Northern Colorado, 80-62. It was the first win in a national postseason event for the UTSA women in their 43-year history.

The Cowgirls, playing on their home court, proved to be too tough for the Roadrunners. They shot 50 percent from the field for the game and made eight 3-pointers. Wyoming started fast, building a 26-8 lead after one quarter. By halftime, the Cowgirls’ lead ballooned to 45-20.

Jordyn Jenkins scored 28 points to lead the Roadrunners. Jenkins, in her 12th game since returning from an injury that kept her out for the first 21, capped her season by hitting 11 of 20 shots from the field.

Guard Sidney Love added 13 points and six rebounds.

Records

UTSA 18-15
Wyoming 17-14

Making history: UTSA women down Northern Colorado 80-62 in the WNIT first round

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Jordyn Jenkins. 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

Jordyn Jenkins produced 27 points and seven rebounds as the UTSA Roadrunners routed the Northern Colorado Bears 80-62 in the first round of the Postseason WNIT. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA reached another milestone Thursday night during its best season of women’s basketball in 15 years. The Roadrunners hosted a postseason game in a national tournament and won it, both firsts program history.

With Jordyn Jenkins leading the way with 27 points, the Roadrunners took control against the Northern Colorado Bears in the second quarter and then finished them off in the fourth, claiming an 80-62 victory in the first round of the Postseason WNIT.

Karen Aston. 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

Karen Aston’s Roadrunners shot 47 percent from the field and scored 80 points in a game for the first time since Jan. 14 when they beat Charlotte 81-80 in double overtime. – Photo by Joe Alexander

A rowdy crowd at the Convocation Center (announced at 873) thoroughly enjoyed it at the end as the Roadrunners started to pull away into double-digit leads. With the win, UTSA improved to 18-14 and advanced to the second round against the Wyoming Cowgirls.

UTSA is scheduled to play on the road at Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference on Sunday at 2 p.m. Northern Colorado of the Big Sky finished its season at 15-16. Hannah Simental led the Bears with 18 points.

In the postgame press conference, UTSA coach Karen Aston said the team’s first postseason win (outside of a conference tournament) feels “amazing.”

“We talked about this before the game,” the coach said. “I didn’t even realize it until yesterday. They mentioned that we had never won a postseason game. So, just a little bit of motivation to give the girls.”

In 43 years of UTSA women’s basketball, the team had played in a national tournament only twice before, once in 2008 against Texas A&M (at Baton Rouge, La.) and once in 2009 against Baylor (at Lubbock).

The Roadrunners lost each game in the NCAA tournament’s round of 64.

This season, in Aston’s third year at the helm of the program, the Roadrunners fell short of the NCAA tourney, but they overcame adversity to secure a winning record for the first time since 2015.

Kyra White. 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

Senior guard Kyra White produced 10 points, nine assists and four rebounds.- Photo by Joe Alexander

Their 18 victories also represent a milestone, of sorts, as they are the most in a season for the Roadrunners since they won 24 in 2009.

Now, after experiencing heartache at the American Athletic Conference tournament, where they lost in the semifinals to bow out of NCAA contention, they have discovered in the WNIT a new path to travel on their road to respectability as a program.

Only three years ago, the Roadrunners won only two games. Two years ago, in Aston’s first season in San Antonio, they won seven. Then, last year, they boosted the victory total to 13 and made a run to the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament.

A year later, as a member of the American, they lost in the semis again but won enough games to earn an invitation to the 48-team WNIT, a second-tier tournament behind the 68-team NCAA and the 32-team WBIT.

“That’s really what we’ve been talking about all this time, is to try to set a new standard and do things that maybe haven’t been done before,” Aston said. “I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Jenkins started for the first time this season in only her 11th game back following a 10-month rehabilitation from knee surgery. She responded by hitting 11 of 16 shots from the field. Jenkins also augmented her prolific scoring with seven rebounds.

“Just finding gaps in the zone,” Jenkins said, “(and) getting easy buckets.”

Aysia Proctor. 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

Aysia Proctor supplied energy off the bench and 13 points on fve of six shooting. – Photo by Joe Alexander

In addition, UTSA enjoyed solid performances among several others, an element that had been missing at times during the crunch of conference play in February and March.

Freshman Aysia Proctor, an energizer, came off the bench to score 13 points. Senior point guard Kyra White had 10 points, nine assists and four rebounds.

Sophomore guard Sidney Love, who became extremely aggressive on offense in the second half, had 10 points and five assists. Senior Hailey Atwood scored nine on four of six shooting from the field in only 16 minutes.

White, who played in high school in the San Antonio area at Judson, said it feels great to win in the postseason.

“Just super grateful and blessed that we have this opportunity to play in front of the home crowd,” White said. “I’m just glad we were able to go out there and get it done.”

Records

Northern Colorado 15-16
UTSA 18-14

Coming up

WNIT second round: UTSA at Wyoming (16-14), Sunday, 2 p.m. (Central).

Notable

A moment of levity emerged late in the third quarter when the Roadrunners made a stop on the defensive end and threw a long pass that sailed high over Jenkins’ head and out of bounds. As Jenkins was running, she wasn’t looking at the passer and didn’t see the pass or the ball as it was flying high overhead. The crowd apparently tried to let her know it was coming, shouting as it was in the air. Jenkins could only smile when the ball bounced out of bounds.

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

Sophomore guard Sidney Love scored six of her 10 points in the second quarter when the Roadrunners rallied into the lead. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Quotable

Jenkins grinned at the question in the postgame interviews and acknowledged that, yes, she was having a good time all night.

“We haven’t played in awhile,” she said. “It feels like a new season, and I’ve never had a postseason in my career. So, just the fact that it’s a new game and we’ve had a lot of days off.

“It was just funny because the crowd, honestly, like, (they) helped me out. Because I wouldn’t have known. I knew they were screaming. So, then I was like, ‘Ok, it’s somewhere up here.’ But, yeah, it was fun.”

First half

Moving without the ball and posting up aggressively, Jenkins scored eight points in the first quarter and seven in the second as the Roadrunners rallied for a 40-35 lead at intermission.

Initially, they struggled. They trailed most of the first quarter and fell behind by nine with a minute left. Trailing 23-19 entering the game’s second 10-minute segment, the Roadrunners started to click.

Hailey Atwood. 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

Hailey Atwood started and played 16 minutes, during which she scored nine points on four of six shooting. – Photo by Joe Alexander

They hit four 3-pointers in a rally that saw them come from behind and seize the momentum. A Jenkins triple gave them the lead at 28-26 with 6:45 remaining.

Love also figured prominently in the outburst, hitting two from beyond the arc in the last few minutes.

For the Bears, Simental enjoyed a productive half with 13 points. She knocked down four of eight from the field and three of three from distance.

With 1:52 remaining in the first quarter, the Bears held their largest lead of the game at 22-13 when Lilah Moore hit a pair of free throws.

Four straight points by Jenkins and a field goal by Cheyenne Rowe allowed the Roadrunners to get back into contention.

Third quarter

The Roadrunners continued to click in the moments after halftime. Elyssa Coleman nailed a three from the top of the circle on the first play of the third period. Jenkins followed with seven straight points in less than two minutes.

UTSA led 49-42 with 6:53 left.

For the Roadrunners, a positive sign emerged when Jenkins went to the bench for a rest. In her absence, UTSA perimeter players started to come alive.

First, Atwood took it to the basket for a two-pointer. Kyra White scored inside on a drive, and then Proctor nailed a three from the top. White followed with another bucket on a drive.

The Roadrunners, in an important stretch, were keeping pace with the Bears with their best player on the bench resting. When Jenkins returned, she scored, giving UTSA a seven-point lead. Aniah Hall finished the quarter with a bucket for the Bears.

UTSA led 60-55 going to the fourth.

Jordyn Jenkins. 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

UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins sank 11 of 16 shots from the field and even hit two of three from 3-point distance in scoring 27 points, two off her season high. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA women reach for ‘re-set’ in the Postseason WNIT

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Elyssa Coleman. UTSA beat Rice 60-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, March 5, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Elyssa Coleman and the UTSA Roadrunners will host the Northern Colorado Bears tonight in the first round of the Postseason WNIT. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA women’s basketball players will try to hit the re-set button on their emotions Thursday night when they host the Northern Colorado Bears in the first round of the Postseason WNIT.

Last week, the Roadrunners had their hearts broken when they lost in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth.

After giving up an 11-point lead and losing by one to the East Carolina Pirates, their dreams of a trip to the NCAA tournament were crushed.

UTSA coach Karen Aston acknowledged Wednesday that her players still may be experiencing the disappointment of the near miss in Fort Worth.

In that regard, she suggested that they might need to “re-set” emotionally before tipoff against Northern Colorado.

“I think they’re excited about the opportunity to play in the postseason but also trying to figure how to get over a disappointing loss, and maybe a missed opportunity,” Aston said. “So, it’s been a bit of a process to be happy and excited — and proud — about what they’ve done and what kind of year they’ve had.”

The Roadrunners already have achieved a milestone in clinching their first winning season since 2015. They’ve already made their mark with the first national postseason appearance since 2009, when they reached the NCAA tournament.

Now, if they can beat the Bears of the Big Sky conference, they can notch the first national postseason victory in the 43-year history of the program.

“You know,” Aston said, “that’s a good thing in a lot of ways, (that) they weren’t OK with what happened (last week). I appreciate that about them, so, to answer your question, (we just need) to get our competitive juices going again and get back to being who we can be.”

On Monday afternoon, Aston stopped practice at one juncture and let the players have it verbally. In so many words, she said she was troubled by the lack of focus and that she didn’t feel like they were giving their best effort.

The players apparently have responded. Aston said the workouts have been better and better as the week progressed.

“Today was a good day,” the coach said. “I feel good about us being ready to play tomorrow.”

UTSA center Elyssa Coleman said her teammates are thankful and excited to get to play again, and they hope to push past whatever feelings they may have had about last week.

She said it was “weird” because in years past players knew that a loss in the conference tournament definitely meant that the season was over.

“So, once we lost … knowing that we could, maybe, be picked for postseason, it was kind of like, you go through heartbreak,” she said. “But then you may or may not have any games after that, especially for our seniors, it was just really weird and uneasy.

“Thankfully, we got this opportunity.”

Coming up

Postseason WNIT, first round, Northern Colorado at UTSA, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Winner plays Wyoming in the second round, site and date TBA

Records

Northern Colorado 15-15, 10-8, tied for fourth, Big Sky Conference
UTSA 17-14, 10-8, tied for fourth, American Athletic Conference

Key players

UTSA averages, points/rebounds and other — Forward Jordyn Jenkins (15.1 / 7.3); Elyssa Coleman (10.9 / 7.7, 1.5 blocks); Kyra White (10.2 / 5.1, 4.7 assists); Aysia Proctor (10 / 4.9); Sidney Love (9.5 / 3.6, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals), Idara Udo (7.9 / 6.2).

Northern Colorado averages, points/rebounds and other — Forward Delaynie Byrne (13.6 / 8.0); guard Hannah Simental (12.4 / 3.6, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals); forward Aniah Hall (10.0 / 5.7) guard Seneca Hackley (9.0 / 3.0, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals); Tatum West (7.8 / 4.6).

Coaches

UTSA — Karen Aston took a program that was 2-18 the year before her arrival and built steadily, going 7-23, 13-19 and 17-14. Under Aston, who made a name for herself as a head coach at the University of Texas, the Roadrunners have reached a national postseason event for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The winning record is UTSA’s first since 2014-15. The 17 wins is the most since the ’08-’09 team, an NCAA tournament entry, finished 24-9.

Northern Colorado — Kristen Mattio has strung together records of 15-16, 13-18 and 15-15 in three seasons at Northern Colorado, which is based in Greeley. In her first season, her team went 9-11 in the Big Sky and reached the tournament semifinals. Last year, she went 5-13 and bowed out in the quarters. This year’s 10-8 record in conference was her team’s best, but the Bears lost again in the quarters, falling 47-44 in overtime to Montana State.

Men’s basketball: Texas, Texas Tech open NCAA play today

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North Texas coach Grant McCasland. North Texas beat UTSA 59-48 on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Grant McCasland’s Texas Tech Red Raiders open the NCAA tournament Thursday against North Carolina State. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Six teams from the state of Texas will tip off in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament over the next few days. Texas and Texas Tech will play Thursday, followed by Houston, Baylor, TCU and Texas A&M on Friday. We’ll take a look at Thursday’s matchups:

Thursday’s games

Round of 64

Texas vs. Colorado State, 5:50 p.m. on TNT — The seventh-seeded Longhorns (20-12) open with 10 seed Colorado State (25-10) at Charlotte, N.C., in the Midwest Region. Winner will advance to play either 2 seed Tennessee or No. 15 Saint Peter’s in the R32. A scary matchup for Coach Rodney Terry’s Longhorns. The Rams, led by guard Nique Clifford and forward Joel Scott, scorched Virginia 67-42 in a First Four game Tuesday in Dayton. The Longhorns went 9-9, finished tied for seventh in the Big 12 and lost in the first round of the conference tournament.

Local angle: Texas junior Ze’Rik Onyema, a 6-8 forward from Jay HS, transfer from UTEP.

Texas Tech vs. North Carolina State, 8:40 p.m. on CBS — The sixth-seeded Red Raiders (23-10) take on No. 11 North Carolina State (22-14) at Pittsburgh in the South. The winner will move on to play either 3 seed Kentucky or No. 14 Oakland, Mich. First-year Tech coach Grant McCasland was riding high with four straight wins, including an 81-67 victory over BYU at the Big 12 tournament, before he ran into the Houston Cougars. UH throttled Tech 82-59 in the B12 semis. Tech guard Darrion Williams sat out the Houston game with an ankle injury he suffered against BYU. Injured seven-foot center Warren Washington has played in only one game since Feb. 12. The Wolfpack made a shocking five-wins-in-five-days run to the ACC tournament title.

UTSA women set to host Northern Colorado in the Postseason WNIT

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Karen Aston. UTSA beat Charlotte 81-80 in double overtime in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Third-year UTSA coach Karen Aston has guided the program to its first berth in a national tournament in 15 years.- File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the first time since 2009, the UTSA women’s basketball team will play in a national postseason tournament.

The Roadrunners learned Sunday that they had been accepted into the Postseason WNIT. By Monday afternoon, it came to light that they would tip off the tournament at home. They’ll host the Northern Colorado Bears on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

To put it in perspective, most of the Roadrunners were in grade school the last time the program played beyond a conference tournament.

“I think I was seven and on the playground,” center Elyssa Coleman said.

Division I women’s basketball programs all over the country start offseason workouts in the summer in hopes of earning a bid to the 68-team NCAA Tournament, the most prestigious of all postseason destinations.

Beyond that, the 32-team WBIT is considered the next best destination, followed by the 48-team WNIT. Programs need to post winning records to be eligible, and the Roadrunners qualified on that front at 17-14, including 10-8 in the American Athletic Conference.

Last week, in the AAC tournament at Fort Worth, the Roadrunners won in the quarterfinals against South Florida and then lost by one in the semifinals to the East Carolina Pirates.

Even though the loss knocked UTSA out of contention for the AAC’s automatic bid to the NCAAs, UTSA coach Karen Aston says the WNIT invitation is “a huge step” for her program.

“The biggest reason that you play and you train, and (put in) all those hours starting in June is that you have a chance to experience postseason,” Aston said. “I know our players were a bit disappointed in how the conference tournament ended, a game that we thought we let get away, and it’s been kind of hard to get ’em out of that doldrum.

“But I think the excitement of knowing that they earned a chance to play in postseason is a big deal to them.”

It’s also a big deal for die-hard fans, who haven’t seen the Roadrunners in a national tournament in March since both the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Both years, UTSA lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, meaning the team has a chance to make history with a victory that would be the program’s first.

Aston applauded UTSA athletic director Lisa Campos for putting up the bid to host a game.

“You know, that’s why I came here,” she said. “Because I think Dr. Campos is extremely committed to the whole athletic program. I think she’s committed to basketball. I think that she wants us in our program to grow, and this is a growth step..

“I told the players yesterday, as disappointed as I know they were in the outcome of the conference tournament, this is a required step.

“It is a step where you hang a banner and we get to look at that banner all year next year and know that, you know, we’ll remember the reasons why we didn’t make the NCAA. Those are required (steps). Some of our freshmen, their seasons last year (in high school) ended in the first of February and mid-March.

“That’s a good month’s experience that you have to have so that you know what it feels like.”

For most of the past decade, the Roadrunners were a sub-.500 program, in one stretch registering single-digit victory totals for five straight years. In 2020-21, the Roadrunners finished 2-18 and 0-14 in Conference USA.

Aston took over in 2021-22 and guided the team to a 7-23 record. Last season, with Jordyn Jenkins and Kyra White transferring in from Southern Cal, UTSA improved to 13-19. This year’s 17-win total is the most for the program since the 2008-09 team won 24 games.

White, a UTSA senior from Judson, said “it means everything” to help raise the standard of play.

“It’s just a testament to everybody in this gym right now,” she said. “From last April until now, just putting in the work, grinding day in and day out, and honestly just not taking no for an answer.”

Coming up

First round: Northern Colorado at UTSA, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
Second round: Northern Colorado-UTSA winner vs. Wyoming, date and site TBA

Records

Northern Colorado 15-15
UTSA 17-14

UTSA basketball job ‘a dream come true’ for Austin Claunch

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The University of Alabama men’s basketball program has made a new fan in San Antonio. It’s Lisa Campos, the athletic director at UTSA.

As Campos on Sunday announced the hiring of 34-year-old Alabama assistant Austin Claunch as the next head coach of the Roadrunners, the plan for the coming weeks came into sharper focus.

Claunch will continue to work with the Crimson Tide for as long as they can stay alive in the NCAA tournament. Afterward, he will report to work in San Antonio.

Fourth-seeded Alabama opens play on Friday against No. 13 Charleston in an NCAA West Regional Round of 64 game at Spokane, Wash.

“There’s some positive pressure,” Campos said in a Zoom news conference. “We want him to go as far as he can with Alabama because that’s great for UTSA, as well. So we’ll be rooting. We’ll be Roll Tide fans here in the tournament.

“But, really, can’t wait for him to be in San Antonio, for ya’ll to meet him and feel his energy in person.”

Claunch, who talked to reporters on Zoom from Alabama, laid out some of his plans for the Roadrunners and admitted to feeling a rush of gratification.

“Honestly, what an incredible few days it’s been for me,” he said. “It truly is a dream come true.”

The whirlwind started last Thursday when it was announced that Steve Henson would not return as coach. That his contract, which expires on March 31, would not be renewed. That his eight-year tenure with a 110-144 record was over.

Campos said she started work on the search for the new coach almost immediately. In fact, she called Claunch later that day. It took basically 72 hours for the two sides to agree on a five-year deal worth $550,000 annually.

“Real excited for Austin,” Campos said. “He checks all the boxes that we’re looking for. He’s got Division I head coaching experience. He’s had success and has been around successful programs. He knows what (success) looks like.”

As evidenced by his first meeting with the San Antonio media, Claunch also showed off a personal touch that likely will go a long way in South Texas.

After each reporter announced their name and affiliation and then asked questions, the new UTSA coach addressed each one of them by their first names.

Claunch also revealed a disarming sense of humor.

In one give-and-take, the coach was asked what he most wanted to do after the tournament, after he arrived in San Antonio and settled into his new role. Claunch said he just wanted to meet his players, the athletic staff, the school administration.

Also, the students.

“I’m a big believer in being a team player,” he said. “You will see me at every other sporting event (on campus). You’ll see me just walking around campus, talking to people. You know, sometimes it’s hard for me to shut up. I love just getting to know people.”

Claunch, who was born in Argentina, grew up in Houston and attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. After playing basketball in high school, he moved on to play four years for Division III Emory University in Atlanta.

Almost immediately after he left school, his star started to rise in college basketball coaching circles. He worked at George Mason and at Clemson and then took an assistant’s job at Nicholls State in tiny Thibodaux, La., south and west of New Orleans.

At Nicholls, Claunch initially worked two years as Richie Riley’s assistant, once helping the Colonels win the 2018 Southland Conference regular-season title.

When Riley left for South Alabama after the season, the young assistant moved up and, at age 28, took over the Colonels’ program as head coach. He would win back-to-back Southland Conference regular-season titles (2021 and 2022) and would post a 90-61 record in five seasons.

Claunch traced his Nicholls teams’ success to relationships he built with his players, a task that may have been easier to accomplish because of his age.

“I really just want to get to know these guys and build authentic relationships with them, which is sort of my strength, building relationships,” he said. “As a young head coach, when I took the job (at Nicholls), I didn’t have a ton of experience. I believe we won because we built those true, trustworthy relationships.”

Claunch left Nicholls last spring to join Nate Oats’ staff at Alabama.

“Austin is one of the hardest working guys in the business,” Oats said in a statement. “His work as a head coach at Nicholls was unbelievable, with one of the lowest budgets in the country.”

Clemson coach Brad Brownell, also in a statement, emphasized his former staffer’s communication skills and personal touch.

“People enjoy being around Austin,” Brownell said. “He’s a fun guy. He’s also very bright and knows how to get his message across if there’s work to be done. He can handle his business, but he’s also one of those guys that relates to people and enjoys people.”

Claunch’s interpersonal skills may be put to the test pretty soon.

Jordan Ivy-Curry and Christian Tucker, the Roadrunners’ top two guards, have already announced that they will enter the transfer portal. For the fans, it’s an eerie feeling after 10 players left the team last fall.

Claunch said he only hopes the players with eligibility stay long enough to talk to him because he thinks they can become part of a championship foundation.

“I want to get down there and talk to our guys face to face,” he said. “Because, they committed to UTSA for a reason, and I still believe that they can be big parts of winning a championship in the American. So, I would tell them just to hang tight. I’ll be down there soon and look forward to talking to them in person.”

Austin Claunch named to lead the UTSA men’s basketball program

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Editor’s note: Alabama assistant Austin Claunch has been hired as head coach of the UTSA men’s basketball program, it was announced Sunday afternoon. Here’s my story from yesterday:

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Multiple media outlets are reporting that the UTSA Roadrunners are targeting University of Alabama assistant Austin Claunch to become their next head coach in men’s basketball.

Claunch, who has roots in Texas, has worked under Alabama head coach Nate Oats for one season.

The story was broken early Saturday afternoon by Alamo City Hoops. Officials in the Alabama men’s basketball program couldn’t be reached. A UTSA spokesman said in a text, “We have no news regarding our men’s basketball coaching search at this time.”

If a deal can be worked out, Claunch apparently would arrive at UTSA as the youngest men’s basketball head coach in school history (34) and only the third to take the job in their 30s, following Brooks Thompson who was 35 when he was hired in 2006 and Ken Burmeister (38) in 1986.

At the same time, Claunch would bring with him the most victories in Division I of any previous UTSA coach except for one. Stu Starner won 110 games at Montana State before he was hired at UTSA in 1990. Claunch won 90 games at Nicholls State from 2018-19 through 2022-23.

Claunch would become the only man hired for the UTSA job with as many as two Division I regular-season titles on his record. He won Southland Conference titles at Nicholls in 2021 and 2022. Starner won one Big Sky title at Montana State in 1987.

Born in Argentina, Claunch grew up in Texas and played basketball at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston. He also attended and played for Emory College in Atlanta.

In his coaching career, he has worked at George Mason (2012-13) and Clemson (2013-16) and Nicholls State (2016-23). In his first two years at Nicholls, he served as an assistant coach. He was promoted to head coach in 2018.

In five seasons, Claunch went 90-61 overall, including 58-28 in conference.

The UTSA job came open Thursday when coach Steve Henson was told his contract would not be renewed. Henson posted a record of 110-144 in eight years. Most recently, he had suffered three consecutive seasons with 20 or more losses.

Three Texas-based, mid majors vie for NCAA bids today

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UTEP men's basketball coach Joe Golding at the Miners' game against UTSA at the Convocation Center on Feb. 11, 2023. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Joe Golding’s UTEP Miners rallied from a 14-point deficit in the last 13 minutes Friday to stun the top-seeded Sam Houston State Bearkats in the Conference USA tournament. The Miners will play for the conference’s postseason title today against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in Huntsville, Ala. — Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

With Selection Sunday looming tomorrow for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the state of Texas is looking good with nine possible entries in the 68-team field.

Not to mention a San Antonio native who coaches an out-of-state program.

Three mid-majors from the state will play for automatic bids today, including the UTEP Miners in Conference USA, the Texas Southern Tigers in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the UT Arlington Mavericks in the Western Athletic Conference.

Coach Joe Golding’s Miners will take on the Steve Lutz-coached Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in Huntsville, Ala., for the C-USA title at 7:30 tonight on the CBS Sports Network.

In Birmingham, at Bartow Arena, the SWAC title is up for grabs between Johnny Jones‘ Texas Southern Tigers and the Grambling State (La.) Tigers. Jones’ Tigers are looking for their fourth straight trip to the NCAA’s Big Dance. Tipoff is at 8:30 on ESPN Plus.

Later in the evening, in Las Vegas, the WAC championship will tip off at 10:30 p.m., matching a UT Arlington team coached by former Kentucky and Texas assistant KT Turner against the Grand Canyon (Ariz.) University Lopes at 10:30 p.m., also on ESPN Plus.

Other teams from the state expected to make the field of 68 include the Houston Cougars, the Baylor Bears, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Texas Longhorns and the TCU Horned Frogs — all from the Big 12 — and the Southeastern Conference’s Texas A&M Aggies.

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. No. 5 seed Houston upset No. 1 seed Arizona 72-60 in the NCAA tournament South Region Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 24, 2022, at the AT&T Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Kelvin Sampson has led the Houston Cougars to a 30-3 record entering play today against the Iowa State Cyclones for the Big 12 title. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Led by coach Kelvin Sampson, the Big 12 regular-season champion Cougars are in good shape for an NCAA No. 1 regional seed going into today’s postseason conference title game against Iowa State.

Notable

Lutz is a San Antonio native who played at East Central High School and in college in Seguin at Texas Lutheran College, now Texas Lutheran University. He is in his first year at Western Kentucky after leading the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders to two straight NCAA appearances. His last two teams at A&M-Corpus Christi went 23-12 and 24-11.

Seeded third in the C-USA tournament, Lutz’s Hilltoppers (21-11) lost four in a row to close out the regular season before turning it all around in the postseason in Alabama, where they rebounded to win tournament games against the New Mexico State Aggies and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.

On Friday, the Hilltoppers demolished the Blue Raiders 85-54 by locking down defensively and then shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 50 percent (11 of 22) from the three-point line.

The Miners, meanwhile, will take their own momentum into the championship match. UTEP (18-15) trailed in Friday’s semifinals by 14 points with 13 minutes remaining. At that point, they rallied to knock off the regular-season champion and No. 1-seeded Sam Houston Bearkats, 65-63.

In his third season in El Paso, Golding is looking to reach the NCAA tournament for the third time in six seasons, making it previously in 2019 and 2021 at Abilene Christian University. A highlight came in 2021 when the Wildcats won the Southland Conference postseason title en route to an NCAA upset of the third-seeded Texas Longhorns. A prominent member of Golding’s staff at UTEP is Jeremy Cox, a former assistant at UTSA.

The SWAC tournament finals features a Texas coaching legend in Jones, who recently won the 400th game in his 25-year career. Jones has also had head coaching stops at Memphis, North Texas and LSU. He led the Mean Green to NCAA appearances in 2007 and 2010. At LSU, he had one NCAA trip in 2015. The coach worked his postseason magic particularly well last spring, when his team rose up as the eighth seed and beat No. 1 Grambling, 61-58, in the SWAC finals.

This year, curiously, Texas Southern won on the road and lost at home for a 1-1 split against Grambling during the regular season.

For UT Arlington, coach Turner’s first season has been a wild ride. His Mavericks lost nine of their first 15 games before gaining some traction and momentum. Right now, they’re on a 14-4 run, and they’ll enter the title game against GCU with a record of 20-13. In a game that started late Friday night and finished early Saturday morning, Brandyn Talbot hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left to lift third-seeded Arlington to a 87-84 victory over No. 2 Tarleton State.

Turner has worked under the likes of Gregg Marshall (at Wichita State), Larry Brown and Tim Jankovic (SMU), Porter Moser (at Oklahoma), Shaka Smart (Texas) and John Calipari (Kentucky).

A&M-Corpus Christi coach Steve Lutz at the UTSA Convocation Center on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. - photo by Joe Alexander

San Antonio native Steve Lutz, an East Central High School graduate, has a chance to reach the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. His Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are playing the UTEP Miners tonight in Alabama for the Conference USA crown and the NCAA automatic bid. – photo by Joe Alexander