Alabama basketball will need a new assistant coach for the fourth time in two seasons. Reports have linked Austin Claunch to the head coach opening at UTSA.

Head coach Nate Oats lost three assistants to top jobs last offseason, leading him to bring in Claunch from Nicholls State. Claunch will spend the remainder of the season on the bench as the Tide attempts to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

Claunch started his coaching career as an assistant at George Mason. He then became a graduate assistant at Clemson before moving to Nicholls State. Upon taking over the head coaching position in 2018, Claunch won two Southland regular season titles and was named conference coach of the year in 2021.

Claunch, who is a native of Houston and played high school basketball at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, will return to the Texas area with the Roadrunners. UTSA went 11-20 this season after eight years with Steve Henson.

Claunch is 90-61 in his career as a head coach.

The Tide needed to adjust its coaching staff assignments after non-conference play. Claunch ran the UA offense, one of the best in the country all season, and transitioned to scouting duties with Preston Murphy. Ryan Pannone and scouting and analytical director Adam Bauman took charge of the offense.

“They can all coach basketball, offense, defense whatever. They let me kind of shuffle a few things around,” Oats said in February. ” … We wanted to try new things (in non-conference play) look at this, look at that. …. We had to learn what the guys are good at.”

Alabama will try to ensure Claunch doesn’t get to San Antonio, Texas, too quickly. After losing its first game in the Southeastern Conference tournament against Florida, UA will learn its NCAA Tournament seeding and opponent today at 5 p.m.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].