SAN ANTONIO – For the second time in a week, the UTSA men’s basketball team has announced a new frontcourt player for next year’s roster, with transfer forward Ashton Smith set to join the Roadrunners for the third season under head coach Austin Claunch in 2026-27. Already into workouts, Smith is the ninth offseason signing announced by the Roadrunners and the second frontcourt player to join UTSA this summer.
“We’re excited to welcome Ashton Smith home to Texas and to the UTSA family,” Claunch said. “Ashton gives us tremendous size, strength and physicality, but what really stood out was his experience and willingness to do the hard things that help teams win. He’s competed at multiple levels of Division I basketball and we believe his best basketball is still ahead of him. We’re looking forward to helping him continue his development and know he’ll make an immediate impact on our frontcourt with his toughness, rim protection and presence in the paint.”
Coming back to the Lone Star State as a transfer at 6-foot-9 and 265 pounds, Smith played the past two seasons at South Dakota alongside fellow Roadrunner signee Shey Eberwein. In 2026-26, an injury ended his season after just six games. Originally out of the Houston Metro, Smith appeared in all 33 games for the Coyotes in 2024-25, earning 12 starts. He averaged 4.8 points on 56.2 percent shooting that season, collecting 2.1 rebounds and leading USD with 24 blocks on the season. Before that, Smith appeared in 16 games at Oral Roberts. He started his collegiate career at Texas A&M after earning a three-star prospect rating and 10th-best recruit in Texas ranking from 247Sports out of Legacy the School of Sport Sciences in Spring. His senior year, he averaged 10 points and 7 rebounds, helping the Titans to the 2021 Texas Christian Athletic League (TCAL) 3A State Championship. Smith comes from a very strong hoops background, with his mother playing at North Texas, his father at Houston, his uncle at Syracuse and his grandfather, Lucious Jackson, was the fourth overall pick in the 1964 NBA Draft and played for the Philadelphia 76ers – in addition to having cousins currently playing at Houston and Fisk. Played club ball for Houston Hoops EYBL.
- UTSA -