{"id":480796,"date":"2026-10-29T22:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T22:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/480796\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T22:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T22:50:08","slug":"utsa-basketball-coach-passed-out-in-his-car-outside-corpus-christi-gas-station-before-dwi-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/480796\/","title":{"rendered":"UTSA basketball coach passed out in his car outside Corpus Christi gas station before DWI arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2013 A basketball coach from the University of Texas-San Antonio was arrested Tuesday in Corpus Christi, and a report from the police department describes the alleged drunken encounter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Austin Claunch, identified in records as James Claunch, was arrested Tuesday and charged with driving while intoxicated. He is a three-year head coach of the Division I basketball team.<\/p>\n

UTSA suspended Claunch from the team on Wednesday, the athletics department\u2019s vice president said in an email.<\/p>\n

Claunch performed poorly on sobriety tests, according to the Corpus Christi Police Department.<\/p>\n

Police responded to a 911 call just before 2 a.m. when someone reported Claunch stumbling inside a Stripes gas station in the 9600 block of South Padre Island Drive.<\/p>\n

The report said he walked back to his Mercedes parked in front of the building, and police found him passed out sitting in the driver\u2019s seat with a seatbelt on.<\/p>\n

The arresting officer said police turned Claunch\u2019s car off and woke him up. The officer also noted smelling alcohol from his breath and his slurred speech in the report.<\/p>\n

Claunch spoke to officers and admitted to having a drink that night, but did not say how much, according to the report. He also told police he drove to the gas station.<\/p>\n

He refused to take a breath or blood test, but was taken to a hospital where his blood sample was drawn.<\/p>\n

He was booked into the Nueces County Jail the same day and was released on bond.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, UTSA invited media to the training facility to kick off the 2026-2027 season, and KSAT spoke with Claunch that afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"\"FILE – UTSA head coach Austin Claunch looks on during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Alabama, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo\/Vasha Hunt) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

A statement from the university about his arrest was sent out hours after the news conference. UTSA said it\u2019s reviewing the circumstances and will determine the next steps in his suspension.<\/p>\n

Lisa Campos, the vice president for intercollegiate athletics, said assistant coach Nick Bowman will serve as acting head coach during Claunch\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Claunch said he regrets his decision, especially being seen as a leader of the team.<\/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,\u201d Claunch said.<\/p>\n

Read his full statement below:<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a grave error in judgment, and I deeply regret my actions and the disappointment I have caused. I 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. I 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<\/p>\n

UTSA Head Men\u2019s Basketball Coach Austin Claunch<\/p>\n

The Roadrunner\u2019s first basketball game is an away game against San Jose State on Nov. 2. This is Claunch\u2019s third season as head coach.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Roadrunners finished with a 4-25 record.<\/p>\n

Read also:<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2013 A basketball coach from the University of Texas-San Antonio was arrested Tuesday in Corpus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156,2615,5790,82,3439],"class_list":["post-480796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news","tag-corpus-christi-police-department","tag-nueces-county","tag-san-antonio","tag-utsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480796","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=480796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}