With Claunch suspended following arrest, UTSA faces new questions around identity

UTSA men's basketball coach Austin Claunch, center, talks to his team during practice at the new Basketball & Volleyball Training Center in San Antonio on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News) Five days before the start of the UTSA men's basketball season, coach Austin Claunch spoke to the media about what it means to be "Texas Tough." The mantra is one Claunch said his teams aimed to embody through his first two years, and the coaching staff wore shirts bearing the phrase as the team ran through practice Wednesday. "Texas Tough," Claunch said, means fighting for rebounds and deflections, or diving on the floor for loose balls - qualities opponents won't expect from a team that aims to push tempo. This season was meant to be focused on UTSA's identity, and "Texas Tough" was a major emphasis. "That was a big excitement for me when I took the job was the attitude and the identity in this city and in this state," Claunch said. "If they play a certain way, you'll have the support of this community and these people, because they want to see a team that plays with pride in UTSA." Only about 36 hours earlier, around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, Claunch was arrested on suspicion of DWI, found passed out behind the wheel of his Mercedes-Benz 350 Series in a Stripes parking lot in Corpus Christi, per the arrest report. UTSA athletic director Lisa Campos announced Claunch's suspension Wednesday night, installing longtime Claunch assistant Nick Bowman as the acting head coach. As UTSA prepares to open the new season at 2 p.m. Monday at San Jose State, preseason questions about identity have taken on new meaning. "Our identity is living in the chaos, just living in the chaos," UTSA guard Dorian Hayes said before news of Claunch's suspension. "We want to make games hectic, because I feel like the majority of teams in the country, they're not used to playing in that type of environment." UTSA assistant men's basketball coach Nick Bowman runs a drill during practice at the new Basketball & Volleyball Training Center in San Antonio on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News) The arrest report from the Corpus Christi police department states that officers found Claunch unconscious, wearing his seatbelt with the vehicle running and the door left open. The initial call to law enforcement said Claunch had been "stumbling around" the store, and he responded with thick, slurred speech when the officers woke him. He admitted that he had been drinking and drove himself to the Stripes store, and he performed poorly on the field sobriety tests, per the arrest report. He refused blood and breath tests, and he was transported to an area hospital. UTSA canceled Claunch's Tuesday Zoom call with the media because of a "scheduling conflict," but Claunch returned to conduct practice and speak to reporters on Wednesday, hours before his suspension was announced. "Really excited to go challenge ourselves these first couple of weeks," Claunch said. "We've got a lot of work to do, but love this group and love coaching them." Claunch was already facing an uphill climb this year, going 4-25 and 1-17 in the American Conference last season to mark the worst records in program history. Hayes is the only returning player to an overhauled roster, but after UTSA struggled with injuries and player availability last season, Claunch said this year's team had "true depth." The Roadrunners last year were forced away from the fast-paced style of disruptive defense and free-flowing offense UTSA had long envisioned, but this season was meant to be a return to form. "We're all new, and the way we play offense is a little bit different from most teams," guard Preston Turner said. "At first, it was hard to get used to it, the pace and what the coaches were asking us to do. But once we all bought in, it's a really fun way to play." Hayes averaged 8.8 points per game last year, and a handful of UTSA's newcomers have had success at previous stops. Isaiah Coleman averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game at Seton Hall in 2024-25, and guard Isaiah Watts averaged 11.0 points per game at Washington State two years ago.Claunch said the Roadrunners have had a different leading scorer in each of three preseason scrimmages, starting a new lineup in every half. But the expectations for UTSA remain low, as the team was projected to finish last in the American Conference's preseason poll. "I've been picked last all my life, so it's nothing new," Watts said. "We're fighters. Every single one of us has been in a situation where we had to fight. So, it's the same here." SubscribeThere’s more to San Antonio with the Express-News. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at With Claunch suspended following arrest, UTSA faces new questions around identity.