SAN ANTONIO – UTSA men’s basketball coach Austin Claunch released the second signing announcement of the week, as the Roadrunners have added the fifth transfer signing of the summer in Kansas State wing Macaleab Rich to the 2026-26 UTSA roster heading into Claunch’s second season at the helm in San Antonio.
“With his combination of size, natural skill set and Big 12 experience, Macaleab brings us another great presence around the basket and on the perimeter,” Claunch said. “He’s a true inside-outside threat and will give us another weapon in our style and pace of play.”
Joining the Roadrunners at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, the East St. Louis native forward spent the past two seasons at Kansas State, playing 29 games in a deep wing group for the Wildcats, registering overall averages of 4.8 ppg on 66.7 field goal and 44.4 percent three-point shooting, grabbing 2.4 rpg in 10.9 average minutes. He arrived in Manhattan with a four-star rating from ESPN, 247Sports and On3, with a three-star Rivals rating as well. Last season with the Wildcats, Rich averaged 12.6 minutes in 13 games and scored 5.9 ppg off 64.4 percent shooting, connecting for 83.3 percent at the free throw line. In his rookie season, he averaged 3.8 ppg and 2.5 rpg. During KSU’s historic 2023 international tour of the Middle East, Rich scored in all three outings with one start, averaging 6.0 ppg and 4.7 rebounds, notching a tour-best 10 points with five boards against Team Mexico.
Rich played four seasons for Mark Chambers at East St. Louis High School, racking up 1,721 career points on 56.5 percent shooting, with 935 rebounds, 224 assists and 147 blocks. Across his high school career, he averaged 16.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.4 blocks, cementing his ranking as the No. 24 national small forward, No. 4 player in Illinois and 106th-ranked player nationally by 247Sports. As a senior in 2022-23, he led the Flyers to a 26-9 record and third-place finish in the Illinois Class 3A State Tournament, leading the team in nearly every category with averages of 20 points on 61.7 percent shooting, 9.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists. As a senior, Rich reached double-digit scoring in 30 games, with 15 double-doubles, while earning a spot on the Illinois Class 3A All-State First Team from both the Associated Press and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association. That season, Rich was the St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Player of the Year, on top of his First Team All-Metro honors. As a junior, Rich was also First Team 3A All-State, the only non-senior selected as First Team All-Metro and was named to the St. Louis American Fab Five All-Star First Team. He guided his team to a 27-6 record and a berth in the Class 3A Super Sectionals, while averaging a double-double of 19.2 points on 54.9 percent shooting (57.5 percent from three), 10.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.4 steals. He also played AAU ball for the Southwestern Illinois Jets in the 2022 summer grassroots season.
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