A Decade in C-USA: Men's and Women's Basketball
UTSA's Basketball programs had a tough decade as members of Conference USA
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the fifth in a series of stories about the UTSA teams during their 10 year run as members of Conference USA.
Previously in the series: SOCCER | VOLLEYBALL | FOOTBALL | CROSS COUNTRY
On November 9, 2013 the UTSA Roadrunner men's basketball team took the court of the Convocation Center for their first game with a new conference logo painted on the court. It was the Conference USA logo. That night the Roadrunners lost to Northern Arizona 74-63. It was a harbinger of things to come in the next decade for both the men's and women's basketball program.
All of that was still to be decided. When the Roadrunner men took the court that night they were led by Brooks Thompson. Thompson had come to UTSA prior to the 2006-07 season. He had led the Roadrunners to two Southland Conference tournament finals, losing in 2009 and winning in 2011. The 2011 Roadrunners had even won the first NCAA tournament game in program history. In the 2012-13 season, the Roadrunners had reached the semifinals in the WAC tournament in Las Vegas, losing to UT Arlington.
UTSA's women's program entered Conference USA with a new head coach in 2013-14. Longtime assistant Lubomyr Lichonczak took over the program after longtime head coach Rae Rippetoe Blair retired following the 2012-13 season to care for her husband who was battling Alzheimers. The women's program was four years removed from a trip to the 2009 NCAA tournament when they became the first 15 seed to send a two seed to overtime and nearly became the first 15 seed to beat a two seed in a close loss against Baylor played at Texas Tech's arena in Lubbock.
Both programs went into Conference USA with hope that they could return to the glory of just a few years before. As it turned out there would be more losses than wins for both programs in their time in Conference USA.
The Roadrunner men's team went 126-188 overall, 68-112 in conference play and 3-10 in the conference tournament. UTSA's men's team made one postseason trip. In 2018 the Roadrunners went 1-1 in the CollegeInsiders Tournament, beating Lamar in the first round but losing to Sam Houston in the quarterfinals.
UTSA's women's program went 99-192 overall, 53-118 in conference and 4-7 at the conference tournament. The Roadrunner women did not make a postseason tournament during their 10 year membership in Conference USA.
Brooks Thompson coached the Roadrunner men's team until the 2015-16 season when he was let go in March of 2016. His record during the Conference USA era was 27-65 overall and 15-39 in conference. Thompson sadly passed away in June of 2016 after suffering double organ failure and sepsis.
Steve Henson took over the program prior to the 2016-17 season. Henson has led the program since although he finished the Conference USA era with back-to-back 10 win seasons. In the Conference USA era, Henson was 99-123 overall and 53-73 in conference play.
The Women's program was led by Lichonczak from 2013-14 until 2017 and finished with an overall record of 55-67 and a conference record of 31-39. The first year in Conference USA included sadness for the women's program as former coach Rippetoe-Blair was killed in a motorcycle accident in June of 2014.
In 2017, Lichonczak was replaced with Kristen Holt. Holt led the Roadrunner women from 2017 until the 2020-21 season and finished with a 24-83 overall record as well as 10-54 in conference play.
Holt was let go after the 2020-21 season. In her place came former UT-Austin Head Coach Karen Aston. Aston's first two seasons coincided with the last two in Conference USA as the Roadrunners went 20-42 overall and 12-25 in conference play.
| Coach | Overall Record in C-USA Era | Conf. Record in C-USA Era | Postseason Trips in C-USA Era | Years at UTSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Brooks Thompson |
27-65 |
15-39 |
none |
2006-16 |
|
Steve Henson |
99-123 |
53-73 |
one (2018 CIT) |
2016-present |
| Coach | Overall Record in C-USA Era | Conf. Record in C-USA Era | Postseason Trips in C-USA Era | Years at UTSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lubomyr Lichonczak |
55-67 |
31-39 |
none |
2013-17 |
|
Kristen Holt |
24-83 |
10-54 |
none |
2017-21 |
|
Karen Aston |
20-42 |
12-25 |
none |
2021-present |
Notable moments and Players
Though wins were not as numerous as they could have been for the UTSA basketball program the 10 years in Conference USA was not short on great moments and players.
A bright moment for the Women's team came on January 24, 2015 when the Roadrunners got their first win over a ranked opponent. UTSA beat number 24 ranked Western Kentucky 64-63 in the Convocation Center thanks to a pair of free throws from Akunna Elonu with three seconds remaining. Prior to beating WKU, UTSA women had been 0-17 in games against ranked opponents.
Just a little over a year later the Roadrunner women won their second game against a ranked opponent when they beat UTEP, then ranked number 25, 69-64 in the Convocation Center on March 3, 2016.
The early years of Conference USA the women's basketball team was led by Kamra King. King played at UTSA from 2011-2015 and finished sixth on the all-time scoring list at UTSA with 1,367 points. Another notable from the Conference USA era is Tesha Smith. Smith is 10th on the Roadrunners all-time scoring list with 1,169 points and second on the list for rebounds with 800. Smith also set a program record for points in a game when she scored 41 in a 97-66 win over Florida Atlantic.
UTSA's women's team did leave Conference USA with positive energy after reaching the conference tournament semifinals in the 2022-23 season.
As for the men's program the Roadrunners time in Conference USA will always be remembered for two players, Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. Both arrived at UTSA in 2017 and by the time they left, both would become the first members of UTSA mens basketball to reach the 2,000 point club.
Jackson finished with 2,551 points, the most in UTSA history. Wallace finished with the second most points in program history with 2,080. Wallace also reached the top 10 in program annals for rebounds with 554, which was eighth most when he graduated and now ninth most.
Jacob Germany, who played for UTSA from 2019-2023, also joined Jackson and Wallace in the top 10 in points scored and rebounds. Germany is ninth all-time with 1,293 points and fourth in rebounds with 779.
UTSA men during the Conference USA era also had Byron Frohnen who holds the school record for rebounds with 912 rebounds from his time at UTSA that went from 2016-19.
The 2019 season was notable also for the Roadrunners comeback victory over Old Dominion on January 26. With 4:43 left to play UTSA trailed by 18 points, 67-49. Over the next 4:43, UTSA outscored ODU 25-6 to win 74-73 in the Convocation Center.
Now as the Roadrunner basketball teams move into the American Athletic Conference they are at different points. The women's team has a young nucleus and a coach with a history of success. The men's team is entering the final year of head coach Steve Henson's contract and will have several new faces after numerous players from last year graduated or departed via the transfer portal.
Whatever results come for the UTSA basketball teams in the American both have a chance to build better history than what they experienced in Conference USA.
Next in the series: Men's and Women's Tennis
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