UTSA head basketball coach Austin Claunch is being accused of lying about NIL money by two of his top scorers, who also happen to be his top rebounders. He allegedly blocked one of the two from contacting him all together.
The program has yet to comment on the matter. I do not expect it to do so.
Claunch, 35, was hired to coach college basketball at the University of Texas at San Antonio prior to the start of this most recent season after a five-year stretch at Nicholls State. The Roadrunners went 12-19 in his first year at the helm.
UTSA had four players score more than 10 points per game. Starting forward Raekwon Horton averaged 12.2 points and led the team in rebounds. Damari Monsanto averaged 11.1 with four boards, the second most on the team.
Both players transferred in from other programs after Austin Claunch was hired. Horton played two years at Charleston and one year at James Madison. Monsanto played one year at ETSU and three years at Wake Forest.
It seems like NIL money played a sizeable role in their decisions. However, it also seems like they never got the money they were promised.
Monsanto posted a text conversation with a UTSA staffer from his time in the portal last offseason. The latter told the former that he could get him $125,000 in “straight NIL” and asked for his commitment. The unnamed coach also implied that number could increase during the season. Apparently that was a lie.
Lying about some bread ain’t real at all! pic.twitter.com/XtFHdU5s70
— Damari k. Monsanto® (@31damari) March 28, 2025
Horton chimed in to say that he also did not get paid.
Never got my pape either
— @rae5hrtn / X
Approximately 30 minutes after Damari Monstano made his initial post, he followed up to question why his head coach — Claunch — blocked his number. This was all one day after he posted “these coaches slimey man!” specifically about the Roadrunners.
It will be curious to see how this unfolds. Technically speaking, if Monsanto did not have anything in writing, neither Austin Claunch nor his program have to pay him out. Ethically speaking, it’s a bad look.
This kind of thing is happening all over the country. Coaches are making financial promises to secure a commitment, especially through the transfer portal, that they cannot keep. It’s slimy, as Monsanto said. To get put on blast in such a public manner is brutal. But if these allegations are true, it is deserved.
The post UTSA Basketball Coach Allegedly Blocked His Own Player After Lying About $125K In NIL Money appeared first on BroBible.
UTSA Basketball Coach Allegedly Blocked His Own Player After Lying About $125K In NIL Money
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