UTSA has suspended head men's basketball coach Austin Claunch after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, the school announced. Assistant coach Nick Bowman, who has worked alongside Claunch since 2024, will take over as acting head coach while Claunch is away from the program.
According to KSAT, UTSA suspended Claunch on Wednesday following the arrest, and the university says it is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident before determining its next steps.
Claunch spoke publicly about the situation Wednesday, telling reporters he made a grave error in judgment and regrets his actions and the disappointment they caused, per the same report. He said he takes full responsibility for his decisions and is committed to learning from the experience and earning back the trust and confidence of those around him. He also said he regrets the decision especially because of his position as a leader of a Division I basketball program, and apologized to his players, fellow coaches, UTSA president Taylor Eighmy, athletic director Lisa Campos and the broader Roadrunner community, the station reported.
Bowman Steps In After Years Alongside Claunch
Bowman's elevation to acting head coach is not a new partnership. He was announced as part of Claunch's first UTSA staff back in April 2024, according to UTSA Athletics. Before that, Bowman spent five seasons working under Claunch at Nicholls, first as an assistant for two years and then as associate head coach for the final three.
Claunch himself is in his third season leading the Roadrunners, having taken over as the seventh head coach in program history, per UTSA Athletics. His tenure so far has been a steep climb: through two seasons at UTSA, Claunch holds a 16-44 record. Before arriving in San Antonio, he spent one season as an assistant under Nate Oats at Alabama, following a head-coaching run at Nicholls where he won 90 games, posted two 20-win seasons and led the Colonels to Southland Conference regular-season titles in 2021 and 2022.
A Program Already Under Pressure
The suspension lands on a program that had already been struggling badly on the court. During the 2025-26 season, UTSA slumped to a program-record 14 consecutive losses, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News. At the depth of that skid, the team ranked 348th out of 365 teams in KenPom's adjusted efficiency rankings and 352nd in the NCAA's NET ratings, while shooting just 38.8% from the field — second-to-last nationally.
Despite that stretch, athletic director Lisa Campos said at the time that she remained patient with Claunch, the Express-News reported. That patience comes with financial weight attached: Claunch signed a five-year, $550,000-per-year contract with UTSA, and the newspaper reported that if the school had moved on from him after last season, it would have owed roughly $1 million — 65% of his remaining pay over the final three years of the deal, before any offsets.
What Happens Next Remains Unclear
UTSA has not said how long Claunch's suspension will last, whether he faces additional discipline, or when — or if — he might return to the sideline. For now, Bowman will run the program in Claunch's absence as the Roadrunners try to move past both a historic losing streak and a coach's very public apology.
