Report: Alabama assistant Austin Claunch expected to become UTSA head coach

Alabama assistant Austin Claunch is expected to accept the head coach position at UTSA, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s Ishmael Johnson. He is preparing for his first NCAA Tournament as a Crimson Tide assistant.

Claunch spent the last five seasons as the head coach at Nicholls State, amassing a 90-61 overall record and a 58-28 mark in Southland Conference action. Although the Colonels made an NIT appearance in 2022, they never made an NCAA Tournament under his watch.

Claunch got his coaching career started at Clemson as a graduate assistant from 2013-15 before arriving at Nicholls as an assistant in 2016. He headed to Tuscaloosa as part of a brand new coaching staff for Nate Oats after all three assistants left for head coach positions following last year’s SEC title.

“Austin is one of the hardest working guys in the business,” Oats said in a press release announcing Claunch’s initial hire. “His work as a head coach at Nicholls was unbelievable with one of the lowest budgets in the country. He has won two out of the last three regular season championships in the Southland Conference and that is a credit to his hard work and his energy.

“Austin has a bright young mind and will help out our program in many ways. Not only is he a tireless recruiter and will help us with game planning but he is also a great person who will develop great relationships with our players and have a positive impact in our community.”

Now, the expectation is he’ll take over a UTSA team that went 11-21 this season – including 5-13 in American Athletic Conference play – before opting not to renew Steve Henson’s contract.

“I want to thank Coach Henson for his commitment to UTSA Basketball and to this university,” UTSA athletics director Lisa Campos said in a statement announcing the decision on Henson’s future. “He has been a first-class representative of UTSA and has taught his student-athletes life lessons that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. We wish Coach Henson and his family the very best in the future.”

Alabama went 21-11 this year, including 13-5 in SEC play, before falling to Florida in the conference tournament semifinals. The Crimson Tide now await their fate in the NCAA Tournament and will find it out during Sunday’s selection show. On3’s James Fletcher III projected Alabama to be a No. 4 seed in his updated Bracketology on Saturday afternoon.