SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's basketball team will open its 2020-21 season on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Southwest and will also be broadcast live on Ticket 760 AM.
It marks the second consecutive season the Roadrunners have opened at Oklahoma, who have won all five meetings in the series between the two schools.
The game marks a homecoming for Henson and many of the members of UTSA's basketball staff. Henson served as an assistant coach for OU's Lon Kruger from 2011-16. He began a 15-year stint on Kruger's staff at three stops after a nine-year professional career and a four-year career as a star on Kruger's Kansas State teams. Assistant coach Scott Thompson also spent five seasons with the Sooners (2011-16) on Kruger's staff.
LEADING THE ROADRUNNERS
UTSA heads into the season lidlifter at Oklahoma boasting a pair of the nation's top scoring threats, senior guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace. The pair led the nation's backcourts in combined scoring (45.6 points per game), with Jackson ranking second in the NCAA with 26.8 points per game, a new C-USA and UTSA record. Wallace chipped in 18.8 points per game, adding 4.5 rebounds, a year after going for 20.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. The pair earned All-Conference USA honors for the second consecutive year and enter 2020-21 as preseason all-league picks for the third straight season. The Roadrunners welcome back several key contributors from a year ago, including three players who earned significant starts. Luka Barisic, a 6-foot-10 senior forward, averaged 6.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, with 21 starts in 32 games, in his debut season as a Juco transfer. Sophomore center Jacob Germany made starts in the final 10 games of the season, finishing the year with 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Erik Czumbel made 24 starts, averaging 4.0 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. Junior forward Adrian Rodriguez also chipped in a trioof starts as a sophomore.
CONNECTING THE TWO CLUBS
The meeting with UTSA-Oklahoma marks a homecoming for UTSA head coach Steve Henson, who served as an assistant coach for the Sooners from 2011-16. Henson is a long-time assistant coach for Kruger, also playing for him at Kansas State (1986-90). After Henson's nine-year professional playing career concluded, he began 15 seasons on the staff of Lon Kruger.
UTSA associate head coach Mike Peck has connections to Kruger, as Peck was on the staff at UNLV, spanning two head coaches, Kruger and Charlie Spoonhour. Peck was the video coordinator and administrative assistant for UNLV, after a decade as a collegiate assistant. After his time at UNLV, Peck served as the head coach at powerhouse Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev., while Kruger and Henson were at UNLV. He would later spend two seasons as the head coach of the NBA D-League's Idaho Stampede before joining Henson in their debut season at UTSA, 2016-17.
Assistant coach Scott Thompson is a veteran of Kruger's staff as well, spending five seasons with Oklahoma (2011-16) as the video coordinator and character coach. Assistant coach Adam Hood played at the Air Force Academy, facing Kruger and Henson several times as conference foes while they were at UNLV. Director of Operations Jeff Luster was on the staff at TCU when the Horned Frogs were in the Mountain West, also facing Kruger and Henson while they were with UNLV.
UTSA also boasts two student-athletes from the Sooner state, including sophomore center Jacob Germany (Kingston) and redshirt freshman forward Adrian Rodriguez (Tulsa). Germany was a four-star recruit out of Kingston High School, where he helped lead his team to the state 3A championship with a 21-point, 12-rebound effort in the title game last year. Kingston finished with a 28-2 record. Rodriguez prepped at Union High School, where he earned all-state honors after averaging 14.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game as a senior in 2016-17.
SERIES HISTORY
The Sooners have won all five meetings between the two schools, who will be meeting for the fourth consecutive year. The Sooners posted a 85-67 win over UTSA in the season opener in 2019-20 in Norman, as OU got 23-point outings from De'Vion Harmon and Austin Reaves. Jamal Bienemy had 11 rebounds, while Victor Iwuakor added seven points and six rebounds. UTSA was led by Jhivvan Jackson's 24 points, despite a 1-for 10 shooting from distance, with Keaton Wallace chipping in 17 points and nine rebounds.
OU posted an 87-67 win over the Roadrunners in San Antonio in 2018-19, owning a 39-29 advantage in the first and a 48-38 mark in the second half. OU outscored UTSA 52-32 in the pair and 17-8 in fast-break points, shotting 50.7 percent from the field, while UTSA was held to 35.6 percent.
The Roadrunners were led by a double-double from Giovanni De Nicolao, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding two assists in 31 minutes. UTSA was without Jackson, who missed the game while recovering from season-ending injury suffered a year prior. Wallace led UTSA's scorers with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Nick Allen added 15 points. Byron Frohnen had nine points and 10 rebounds. OU got a game-best 24 points from Christian James, who was 8 of 10 from the field with a trio of 3-pointers. Brady Manek had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, with Kristian Doolittle adding eight points and 11 boards.
In the 2017-18 meeting, OU posted a 97-85 win in Norman, using a 42-37 lead in the first and a 55-48 margin in the second for the win. Jackson went for 31 points on 11 of 17 shooting, with Wallace adding 17 points and six assists.
SEASON LIDLIFTERS
The Roadrunners are 15-24 all-time in season openers, including a 1-3 mark under coach Steve Henson, who has faced Oklahoma, Fresno State, East Central and St. Edward's in his first four seasons openers at the helm. Last year, UTSA fell at Oklahoma in the season opener, 85-67.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE USA HONORS
UTSA men's basketball standout guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace were named preseason All-Conference USA for the third consecutive season in a voting of the circuit's coaches and media.
For the third consecutive season, the UTSA guard duo earned preseason All-Conference USA in a voting of the league coaches and media. Jackson is a two-time, first-team All-Conference USA selection, while Wallace has earned all-league honors in the postseason each of the last two years. The pair of scoring guards led the nation's backcourts – and formed the NCAA's third-highest scoring duo – as juniors, combining for 45.6 points per game.
Jackson, a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, shattered the C-USA scoring record with 26.8 points per game as a junior, ranking second in the nation. He broke UTSA season and career scoring marks, while having the most prolific scoring season in league games in C-USA history. He enters his senior season with the top career scoring average in program history – and second-best in C-USA – at 22.8 points per game. He averaged 5.6 rebounds per game as a junior, ranking second among the NCAA's players six-feet and under.
Wallace, who prepped at Dallas' Richardson High School, is a two-time second-team All-Conference USA selection by the league's coaches and media. He is coming off back-to-back electric season performances, including averaging 20.2 points and 5.0 rebounds as a sophomore and 18.8 points and 4.5 rebounds as a junior. Wallace, who played in a scoring guard role as a sophomore, slid over to the point guard role as a junior after the departure of a three-year starter in the role the year before. He dished out 3.1 assists per game, while scoring 20 or more in 14 games, including eight straight in league action. Wallace enters his senior season with the sixth-most points scored in UTSA career history.
2020-21 C-USA Preseason Team
Jordan Shepherd, Charlotte
Jahmir Young, Charlotte
Taevion Kinsey, Marshall
Jarrod West, Marshall
Javion Hamlet, North Texas
Bryson Williams, UTEP
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Keaton Wallace, UTSA
Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU
Charles Bassey, WKU
ALLEY, PARRISH GRANTED IMMEDIATE ELIGIBILITY
UTSA's roster got a big boost for 2020-21 when transfers Cedrick Alley Jr. and Eric Parrish were granted immediate eligibility for the season.
A 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward, Alley played his first two seasons at Houston after a star career at Klein Forest High School, where he earned 2017 6A Mr. Basketball Honors from the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. He played in 60 games with 16 starts over two seasons with the Cougars.
Parrish, a native of Cypress, Texas, joined the UTSA roster in the middle of the season last year after opening his season at Nevada. Parrish, a 6-foot-6 wing, opened his collegiate career at Akron, where he averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 2017-18. He then transferred to Bossier Parrish [La.] Community College, where he was ranked as the fourth-best junior college recruit in the nation after averaging 18.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
FOUR SIGN NLIs IN NOVEMBER
UTSA men's basketball has inked four standouts to National Letters of Intent for the 2021-22 season, it was announced by head coach Steve Henson.
UTSA signed a pair of scoring junior college talents who hail from South Sudan, including 6-foot-8 Austin High School and Temple College product Aleu Aleu and 6-5 guard Dhieu Deing, who prepped in High Point, N.C., before opening his career with a season at USC Aiken and transferring to Dodge City [Kan.] College.
The Roadrunners have also added a pair of high school talents in Lamin Sabally, a 6-7 guard out of Berlin, Germany, and Azavier Johnson, a 6-5 guard from Las Vegas.
"We are thrilled to welcome these four young men and their families into our UTSA family," Henson said. "They each bring a unique skill set to our roster and have the ability to immediately impact our program. We can't wait to get them to San Antonio and start helping them achieve their goals on and off the court."
HENSON SHOW RETURNS FOR 2021
The fifth season of The Steve Henson Show presented by Methodist Healthcare will return on Monday, Jan. 4, UTSA Athletics and Learfield IMG College's Roadrunners Sports Properties announced Monday.
The one-hour show will air live on Ticket 760 AM from a socially distanced location on UTSA's campus.
Fans can watch the broadcast of the show through the UTSA Athletics Facebook page, which features Henson and host Andy Everett for a one-hour radio show each Monday throughout the season.
All shows will be carried live in the San Antonio area on Ticket 760 AM (subject to change) and also can be heard online at Ticket760.com and via the free all-in-one iHeartRadio app.
2021 The Steve Henson Show Schedule
Monday, Jan. 4: 7 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 11: 7 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 18: 7 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 25: 7 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 1: 7 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 8: 7 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 15: 7 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 22: 7 p.m.
Monday, March 1: 7 p.m.
Monday, March 15: 7 p.m.
FOUR SCORE OVER 20 IN BLUE/WHITE GAME
Luka Barisic, Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace each had 25 points to highlight UTSA's Blue-White game, held on Tuesday, Nov. 17 without fans at the Convocation Center.
Barisic, Jackson and Wallace each had 25 to lead the scoring in the scrimmage, which was UTSA's lone tune-up before tipping off 2020-21. The Blue team posted a 101-70 win over White, owning a 51-39 lead at halftime and overcoming an 8-0 White team run to open the second stanza.
Sophomore center Jacob Germany added 24 points, with sophomore guard Erik Czumbel adding 15 points and junior guard Eric Parrish chipping in 13 points. Freshmen guards Jordan Ivy-Curry (11 points) and Jaja Sanni (eight), each showed scoring potential inside and behind the arc.
The Roadrunners also saw junior forward Adrian Rodriguez reach 10 points.
UTSA's roster is paced by the return to dynamic scoring threats in Jackson and Wallace, who led the nation's backcourts in scoring with 45.6 points per game combined. Jackson finished No. 2 in the nation in scoring, shattering UTSA and Conference USA scoring records with 26.8 points per game, while Wallace added 18.8 points per game, a year after sporting 20.2 points per outing.
Barisic, a native of Osijek, Croatia, ranked third on the team in scoring during his debut season in 2019-20, averaging 6.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Germany, who came to UTSA as the highest ranked recruit in program history, a four-star prospect out of Kingston, Okla., started 21 of 31 games as a freshman in 2019-20, averaging 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Czumbel was also a key contributor as a freshman, stepping right into the starting lineup as a native of Verona, Italy, and averaging 4.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
UTSA ANNOUNCES FAN SAFETY PROTOCOLS
UTSA Athletics announced a comprehensive plan for fans to attend home basketball games as safely as possible this season at the Convocation Center.
The plan, which will allow attendance at a reduced capacity of 15% and with physical distancing measures, follows all state and local health directives and focuses on risk mitigation strategies that promote the safety of student-athletes, fans and staff. Since the situation remains fluid and continues to evolve, the plan is subject to change based on emerging information as well as local and state health developments.
"This plan's primary goal is to provide the safest experience possible for our home basketball games at the Convocation Center, much like what we have implemented for our home football games at the Alamodome," UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos said. "We have worked in coordination with university committees, local and state health experts, Conference USA and the NCAA to develop a plan that will help create a safe environment for our student-athletes, coaches, staff, fans and community. We're all in this together and it will require all of us to adhere to the safety protocols in place so that we can continue to cheer on our teams this year."
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