🤙 The Official Newsletter For UTSA Athletics

Good morning. UTSA has earned the American Football Coaches Association's 2023 Academic Achievement Award for posting the highest graduation rate among FBS programs in the recently released NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report.

UTSA will share the award with a dozen other schools. All 13 schools shared the highest graduation rate for members of their 2016 freshman football student-athlete classes. The award, which is sponsored by BSN Sports, will be presented by the Memphis Touchdown Club during the Honors Luncheon on Jan. 8 at the 2024 AFCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.  

What else can you find in today’s Brew?

🎤 A special edition of the Jeff Traylor Radio Show will be held tonight
🏀 WBB announces some super fun promotions for Hoops For the Holidays
​🤙🏼 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

Stock Up is brought to you by Ancira Auto Group, a proud partner of UTSA.

🔼 Second Half, Best Half. The UTSA men’s basketball team (5-4) extended its win streak to three games after sprinting to a 33-point victory over Arkansas-Fort Smith (1-9), courtesy of a 58-point second-half effort on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center. Holding just a seven-point halftime lead, UTSA unleashed a scoring flurry after the break to pull away to a 93-60 victory, aided by dueling 20-point performances from Carlton Linguard Jr. and Isaiah Wyatt. Including 13 in the second half, UTSA notched a new school record from the perimeter with 19 threes in the victory.

The Roadrunners wrapped a four-game home stand with the first three-game winning streak since last November and head out to Arkansas next week for a Dec. 13 game at Little Rock. The Roadrunners will make a quick return to the house before flying west for the fourth meeting against a Pac-12 opponent in the last five seasons via a Dec. 17 trip to Oregon State. UTSA’s next date in the Convo is Dec. 21 in the Military Appreciation Game against Army West Point.

🔼 A Bit of Bowl Banter. A special bowl edition of the Jeff Traylor Radio Show will be held this evening—Monday, Dec. 11, at Little Woodrow’s Braun. The show will begin at 7 PM CST live on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket and UTSA Athletics Facebook Live.

Fans are invited out to listen to Coach Traylor, seniors Frank Harris and Rashad Wisdom, and host Andy Everett, the voice of the Roadrunners, for the one-hour show that will preview the Roadrunners’ matchup against Marshall in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl.

Little Woodrow’s Braun will also host the official viewing party for the Frisco Bowl. UTSA fans who cannot make the trip to Frisco are invited out to cheer on the Roadrunners in their fourth straight and fifth overall bowl appearance at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

🔼 Don We Now Our Sleigh Apparel. Ahead of a 6 p.m. matchup against Houston on Thursday, Dec. 14, the UTSA women's basketball team has announced a quartet of promotions that fans can partake in as a part of the program's annual Hoops for the Holidays initiative.

Headlining the event, April Ancira of the Ancira Auto Group will donate $5 to the women's basketball team for each person in attendance by halftime. As a part of the festivities, spectators will receive a free limited edition UTSA-themed ugly holiday sweater upon entry while supplies last.

Read the full article for info on the Teddy Bear Toss and, for those who’d like to send their inlaws, well, away from their own homes, there’s the In-Laws Special.

🔼 Pomp and Some Good Circumstances. The NCAA on Wednesday released its annual Division I Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data, and UTSA has once again reported a department-record GSR of 89 percent, marking the ninth consecutive year the department has posted a GSR of 80 percent or better. 

“UTSA student-athletes have continued to set new academic standards,” UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos said. “For the ninth consecutive year, we see a positive trend of being above 80 percent and we’re excited to once again set a department record for the third time in the last four reports. Graduating student-athletes is a top priority. This achievement is made possible by their hard work and dedication, coupled with the support of our outstanding academic services staff and the commitment to academics by our coaching staffs.” 

🔼 The One Where Mom Graduates. Redshirt junior forward Elyssa Coleman made headlines this past Sunday when she scored a career-high 23 points for the UTSA women’s basketball program in its 24-point victory against UTEP. 

For Coleman, who graduated from UTSA on Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and has overcome more than her fair share of adversity, her growth and impact will be felt far and wide beyond the basketball court.  

Coleman was a member of Karen Aston’s first team as the Roadrunners’ head coach in 2021-22. She’s helped establish and promote the culture of a program that won just two games the season before Aston’s arrival to one that, at 5-3, is off to its best eight-game start since 2012-13. 

“Elyssa, making the commitment to come here and help us build this program and move the needle for this program, I can’t be any more appreciative of any player,” Aston said. “She, in particular, has struggled with injuries and struggled with a lot of different things, but she’s stayed the course and stayed committed to me and my vision. I can’t say enough about what she’s meant not only to the program but to me personally.” 

“Coming back from that [a string of knee injuries], it just teaches you perseverance,” Coleman said. “I got stronger mentally, I think that was the biggest thing. Obstacles don’t seem as big to me because that’s a long journey with a year-long injury. I take more things with a grain of salt. I really tapped into my faith; just put my head down and worked.”

Read the rest of the article for more on why Coleman prefers UTSA to a Power 5 school, how she earned the nickname “the mom,” and her future plans for basketball and post-graduate work.

Some more Brew headlines to make your day 👇🏼

🏈 Help create a home atmosphere in Frisco!

🎓 The most important reason for Roadrunners, athletes included

👀 Check out these visuals for what’s available in the Hoops for the Holidays promotions

🤔 UTSA TRIVIA

“A Good Coach Can Change a Game. A Great Coach Can Change a Life.” With Coach Traylor in the spotlight today, we turn today’s trivia to the beloved coach’s history with UTSA.

That brings us to today’s question—in what year did he become the head coach for the Roadrunners?

Think you’ve got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

🤙 ONE BIG THING

Birds Up…and Out! Congratulations to all the student-athletes who graduated this weekend! 🎓

Thank you to our proud UTSA Athletics sponsor, Taco Cabana—10% of sales of TC Roadrunner Meals will benefit UTSA athletics scholarships.

📬 STICK WITH US

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📅 COMING SOON

Monday 12/11

(No Activities Scheduled)

Tuesday 12/12

(No Activities Scheduled)

Wednesday 12/13

🏀 Men’s Basketball @ Little Rock @ 6:30 PM CST ESPN+ | Live Stats | Watch Live

Thursday 12/14

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. Houston - Hoops for the Holidays @ 6:00 PM CST ESPN+ | Tickets | Live Stats | Listen

Friday 12/15

(No Activities Scheduled)

Saturday 12/16

(No Activities Scheduled)

Sunday 12/17

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ Oregon @ 1:00 PM CST Pac-12 PLUS| Live Stats | Listen

🏀 Men’s Basketball @ Oregon State @ 2:00 PM CST Pac-12 Networks | Live Stats | Watch Live

View the full UTSA Athletics calendar here

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 2019

In December 2019, Traylor became the third head coach in program history at UTSA. In 2021, Traylor led the Roadrunners to their best start in program history, winning their first 11 games before finishing the regular season 11-1. The Roadrunners also secured their first conference championship, defeating Western Kentucky 49-41, followed by a bid to the 2021 Frisco Bowl.

🤙🏼 Have a great Monday, y’all!