When UTSA fans tune into men’s basketball broadcasts on ESPN+ this season, they will be treated to expert analysis from a UTSA Athletics Hall of Famer and an NBA Champion.
Devin Brown, a San Antonio native who was recently inducted into the inaugural class of the UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame and played on the San Antonio Spurs’ 2005 NBA Championship team, joins play-by-play man Karl Schoening for all of the Roadrunners’ home basketball games.
“It’s pretty cool to have Devin doing that for our ballgames,” UTSA head men’s basketball coach Steve Henson said. “He’s a San Antonio guy who wore the Roadrunner uniform, as well as the Spurs uniform. He’s a guy who has seen it from every single level. We enjoy having him around our program whenever we can and I think it brings a little different take to the broadcast for fans.”
Brown played for UTSA from 1998-2002, helping lead the Roadrunners to the 1999 Southland Conference Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 18.3 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game and 2.7 assists per game during his college playing days.
“It’s a privilege for me,” Brown said of his role as color commentator. “I try to let people in on a little insight of what both teams are doing, offensively and defensively.”
Brown signed with the Spurs as an undrafted rookie and went on to earn Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year accolades in the NBA’s D-League in 2003. He made his NBA debut on Nov. 4, 2022, and made his first NBA start on April 11, 2003. Brown played in 465 career NBA games. He also played for the Utah Jazz, New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls during his eight seasons in the NBA. His experience at the highest level helps inform his perspective on the broadcasts.
“The knowledge of the game is really what it comes down to and it gives you credibility,” Brown said. “Being around coaches like Coach [Jerry] Sloan, Coach Pop [Gregg Popovich], Byron Scott and Pat Riley, I’ve seen a lot of great basketball. I know what great basketball looks like and I know what those guys expect from basketball players. These are young players who want to get to that level.”
It was Brown’s friendship with longtime Spurs radio voice Bill Schoening – Karl’s father – that led to him join the UTSA broadcasts on ESPN+.
“Broadcasting just came to me,” Brown said. “I got a call from a great friend in Bill Schoening and he said ‘Why don’t you call the games with my son?’ It’s a learning experience but, at the same time, I’m really enjoying myself. There’s a lot of great commentators out there, so I watch a lot of YouTube and that has been very helpful to me. I just try to take bits and pieces from everybody and put that in the broadcast. I’ve always been all-in on everything, so I’ll be here for all the home games and whenever they call me.”
Along with Derrick Gervin, the first former UTSA player to reach the NBA, Brown’s jersey hangs in the rafters of the Convocation Center. It serves as great reminder to the team’s current players who aspire to play professionally that, with hard work, their dreams are within reach.
“We’ve got two jerseys hanging in the rafters,” Henson said. “We point up to Devin’s and we point to Derrick Gervin’s. We often make references to those guys. We walk through our halls and now, in recent years, it’s been Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace that we talk about a lot, but it’s pretty cool to look up at those jerseys in the rafters and reference those guys. Those guys are still connected with our program and still support our program.”
For Brown, growing up in San Antonio and playing for the Roadrunners has given him a unique platform to connect with fans watching the broadcasts.
“I think about it 100 percent of the time,” Brown said of the fans. “I mention the passion and the pride a lot. I was proud to get a chance to wear that UTSA jersey and I want the fans to feel that through the current players. That way, when they’re cheering them on, they know that the players are out there giving it everything they have.”