{"id":480720,"date":"2026-10-29T21:14:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T21:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/480720\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T21:14:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T21:14:32","slug":"claunch-suspended-for-dwi-after-day-in-corpus-christi-jail-the-paisano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/480720\/","title":{"rendered":"Claunch suspended for DWI after day in Corpus Christi jail \u2013 The Paisano"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Austin<\/a> <\/p>\n

Austin Claunch speaking to the media in 2025.<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s basketball head coach Austin Claunch was suspended by UTSA Athletics on Wednesday due to an arrest on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. In a press release provided to The Paisano, the university stated it has yet to determine the length of Claunch\u2019s suspension, but confirmed that assistant coach Nick Bowman will serve as acting head coach in Claunch\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a grave error in judgment, and I deeply regret my actions and the disappointment I have caused,\u201d Claunch said in a statement. \u201cI sincerely apologize to the young men I have the privilege of coaching, my fellow coaches and colleagues, President Eighmy, Dr. Lisa Campos and the entire Roadrunner community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI recognize the responsibility that comes with being a head coach and the example I am expected to set, both on and off the court. I fell short of those expectations, and for that, I am truly sorry. I take full responsibility for my decisions and am committed to learning from this experience and earning back the trust and confidence of those who have placed their faith in me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Claunch was detained in the Nueces County Jail for over 13 hours on Tuesday Oct. 27, before conducting a team practice and preseason Media Day on Wednesday. Claunch was booked at 6 a.m. Tuesday and released at 7:05 p.m., the Nueces County Jail told Alamo Audible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Monday, before his arrest, UTSA Athletics moved Claunch\u2019s Tuesday media availability three hours back, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. On Tuesday morning, while Claunch was detained, UTSA Athletics cancelled the Tuesday media availability completely, citing a \u201cscheduling conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Claunch spoke with members of the media for over 10 minutes at a preseason Media Day. Several players spoke during the post-practice session. Hours later, the university sent the press release regarding Claunch\u2019s arrest and suspension. The men\u2019s basketball team opens its season on Monday against San Jose State University in San Jose, California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUTSA Athletics holds its coaches, staff and student-athletes to high standards of conduct and accountability,\u201d Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos said in a statement. \u201cWe take this matter seriously and will address it in accordance with university policies and procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claunch is in the third year of a five-year, $2.75 million contract signed in 2024. In the 2025-26 season, UTSA tied the fewest wins in school history, going 5-25, and set the record for fewest conference wins, going 1-17 in the American Conference.<\/p>\n

The Paisano will update this story when more details become available. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin Claunch speaking to the media in 2025. Men\u2019s basketball head coach Austin Claunch was suspended by UTSA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":["post-480720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}