Contact Us | Refer-a-friend Promo

Free 30-Days | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

A season of ups and downs for the UTSA Roadrunner men's basketball team came to an end on Wednesday afternoon in a 64-61 loss to Temple. It was the Roadrunners' third loss to Temple this season and their second loss in four days against the Owls.

Unlike Sunday's game in San Antonio in which UTSA led most of the day and looked on their way to wrapping up the 10-seed with a win, Wednesday's contest was led wire-to-wire by Temple. The Roadrunners fell behind by a hefty margin in the first half and battled back in the second half but were only able to tie the score once. Each time the Roadrunners looked like they might tie or take the lead, Temple had an answer.

In 72 hours the Roadrunners went from possibly not having to play in the conference tournament till Thursday to being eliminated before the sunset on Wednesday. That result came with the two losses to Temple but it was the conclusion of a season where UTSA tried to find consistency.

UTSA finished the 2023-24 season with an 11-21 record. It was an improvement by one game in both the win column and the loss column from the 2022-23 season. Before the loss to Temple on Sunday UTSA had been on a three-game winning streak and if they had beaten Temple on Sunday would have gotten the first four-game win streak since the 2020-21 season. That was also the last season UTSA men's basketball had a winning record.

Hanging over the team this season was the status of Head Coach Steve Henson. His contract expires on March 31 and there was a possibility of his not returning after last season's team finished 10-22 for the second year in a row. Henson got one more season with the team and improved the record by one win overall and the team's record on the road by two wins. The record in the Convocation Center this season was 7-9, one win less than the home win total in 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Henson has led the Roadrunners for eight seasons. Of the six head coaches in program history, he is the third longest-tenured coach in men's basketball program history behind his two predecessors Brooks Thompson (10 seasons) and Tim Carter (11 seasons). Henson is also third on the all-time wins list at UTSA with a 110-154 record behind Thompson's 132 wins and Carter's 160 wins.

The Roadrunners have had consistency at head coach, with Henson being just the third head coach since Carter was hired before the 1995-96 season. The Roadrunners had three head coaches in its first 14 seasons from 1981-95.

In his eight years at the helm, Henson had three winning seasons. Those were 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2020-21. The 2017-18 team, Henson's third season, is the last Roadrunner team to make a postseason tournament as they reached the CIT Quarterfinals. The Roadrunners had invites to the CBI in 2019 and 2021 but declined those. The Roadrunners have not been able to reach the NCAA tournament under Henson, making him the first coach since Stu Starner to not lead the Roadrunners to an NCAA berth in his tenure.

The Henson situation will likely become clearer in the remaining days and weeks of March. He has had good moments at UTSA but there have also been tough moments in his tenure. Good, bad, or otherwise it might be time for UTSA to look for a new direction with the men's basketball program. A new coach has done great things for the women's program and they had slipped to deep lows before Karen Aston arrived before the 2021-22 season.

UTSA men haven't quite sunk to the level the women's program did before Aston arrived but they have reached a crossroads that will determine where the program goes for the next few years. To keep Henson or to move on from Henson? That is the question that faces Dr. Lisa Campos.

It was a crossroads that appeared to be on the horizon much of the season. The Roadrunners hoped they wouldn't have to face that crossroads for a little while longer.

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way