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Celebrating the 50th: Men’s basketball becomes UTSA’s first NCAA athletics competition

Celebrating the 50th: Men’s basketball becomes UTSA’s first NCAA athletics competition

Robert Wallace (12) takes a shot in UTSA's inaugural basketball game against Arkansas in Nov. 1981.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Sombrilla Magazine, Winter 2001.

(Feb. 15, 2019) -- On November 30, 1981, UTSA’s men’s basketball team gave the Arkansas Razorbacks a run for their money. It was the Roadrunners’ first game—ever. The second half wasn’t pretty, though, and it ended in a 71–42 loss for the ’Runners.

The NCAA Division I independent played formidable opponents like Texas Tech, Texas Christian, UT El Paso, Houston, and Rice that season. They played some games at the Convocation Center and some at the former home of the San Antonio Spurs, HemisFair Arena, which has since been replaced by the S.A. Convention Center expansion.

>> Read the rest of this story and relive other memories from UTSA’s history as we celebrate UTSA’s 50th Anniversary.


Celebrate UTSA’s 50th Anniversary and share social media posts about the 50th using the hashtag #UTSA50.

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UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.


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The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

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The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.