UTSA Parts Ways With Austin Claunch at 17-44 as Nick Bowman's Team Starts 2-1

Photo: UTSA Athletics. Nick Bowman, UTSA interim head coach

UTSA and men's basketball coach Austin Claunch have "mutually agreed to part ways effective immediately," athletic director Lisa Campos announced Friday. Nick Bowman, who has run the team as acting head coach since the opener, will stay on as interim head coach for the rest of the season. Claunch leaves with a 17-44 record in two seasons. The Roadrunners are 2-1 without him.

That gap is the story. A program picked last in the American has already won twice as many games this month as it did across its final 23 games last season.

How it got here

The school suspended Claunch on Oct. 28 after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. The arrest came the morning before, in Corpus Christi, according to The JB Replay. "I made a grave error in judgment, and I deeply regret my actions and the disappointment I have caused," Claunch said in a statement at the time. UTSA said then that it was reviewing the circumstances and would decide on next steps.

Friday's release does not mention the arrest. Campos called it "the right time for a transition" after "thoughtful discussions about the future of the program." Claunch thanked the players, staff and fans and said he and Campos "agreed that it was best for both sides to move in a different direction."

The basketball record would have made this a hard conversation even without the suspension. Claunch went 12-19 in his first season and 5-25 in his second, including 1-17 in the American. That conference mark is the worst in program history, and the five wins tied the school record for fewest in a season, per The JB Replay. Last season's team lost its final 17 games and 22 of its last 23.

He arrived with a real résumé. At Nicholls, Claunch went 90-61 over five seasons and won Southland regular-season titles in 2021 and 2022. He was the 2021 Southland Coach of the Year and took the Colonels to the 2022 NIT. Then he spent a season on Nate Oats's staff at Alabama. UTSA hired him in 2024, and the job never produced a winning season.

What Bowman has already shown

Bowman got the team five days before the opener. The first game went badly: a 95-74 loss at San Jose State. Since then the Roadrunners have beaten VMI 70-68 at home and won 86-59 at Seattle U on Wednesday.

Seattle was the result that changed the tone. The Redhawks were favored by 16.5 points, per The JB Replay, and UTSA led 41-22 at the half. A 13-0 run broke a 13-13 tie. UTSA shot 30-of-59 from the field and 9-of-22 from three, while Seattle went 19-of-54 overall and 5-of-28 from deep. KJ Tenner scored 18 points. Isaiah Watts and Josiah LeGree each scored 15, and Isaiah Coleman added 14. The JB Replay says it was the program's most lopsided road win since a 90-47 win at FIU in February 2021. One caveat: Seattle played without guard Mason Williams, its co-leading scorer, who was out with a foot injury, per Seattle U.

None of that proves Bowman is the long-term answer. Three games is a small sample, and one of those wins was by two points over VMI. What it does show is a team that kept its identity after its head coach was suspended. "Our style is our style," Bowman said before the opener, adding that the players knew what the staff wanted to do. The Roadrunners play roughly eight guards, per Alamo Audible, and that is the roster Claunch put together.

Whose roster this is

That is the strange part of the handoff. UTSA brought in 14 new players after last season, according to The JB Replay, and Claunch built that group. Bowman now gets to coach it for a full season without the "acting" label.

Bowman's résumé runs through Claunch's old program. Friday's release lists five seasons at Nicholls, the last three as associate head coach, then a stop as lead assistant and recruiting coordinator at LSU New Orleans before he joined UTSA. He is in his third season with the Roadrunners. He also spent three years as Clemson's director of recruiting, which included the 2018 Sweet 16.

That continuity is why making Bowman the interim coach is the lower-risk move for UTSA in November. Keeping the staff the players already know protects a team that has started 2-1.

What to watch

The next test comes fast. UTSA hosts Texas State on Sunday in a game the school is billing as the Battle for I-35, with tipoff at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN2 and ESPN+. American play opens Jan. 7 at home against Tulsa.

For Bowman, the job is now a season-long audition. For UTSA, Friday clears up who is in charge without settling who will be in charge next season. A program that won one conference game last season will have a better idea in March whether its interim coach has turned a hot start into a real case for the job.

Sources

• UTSA Athletics: leadership change in men's basketball program, Nov. 13, 2026
• Jon Rothstein on X: UTSA parts ways with Claunch
• UTSA Athletics: 2026-27 men's basketball schedule and results
• CBS Sports: Claunch suspended after arrest on suspicion of DWI
• USA Today: UTSA suspends Claunch after arrest, Oct. 28
• The JB Replay: Bowman steps into acting head coach role
• The JB Replay: UTSA finishes 5-25 after loss at Rice
• The JB Replay: UTSA wins by 27 at Seattle
• Seattle U Athletics: Redhawks stumble versus Roadrunners
• Alamo Audible: Bowman previews Seattle U
• Sports-Reference: Austin Claunch coaching record