Weekly Lunch C's of Leadership

Named the 10th head coach in UTSA history on March 29, 2021, Karen Aston has completely transformed the Roadrunners’ women’s basketball program in four short seasons, leading the team to its first postseason win in program history and the 2024-25 American Conference regular-season championship.

Aston enters the year with a career record of 349- 208 [. 627], which includes head coaching positions at Charlotte, North Texas, and Texas. In her 17 seasons as a head coach, Aston’s teams have averaged 21 wins per year and have made a combined 12 national postseason appearances. She has been consistently recognized as one of the top coaches in the nation. She was one of four finalists for the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award in 2017 and was one of 10 semifinalists for the honor in 2018. Aston also earned Big 12 Coach of the Year accolades in 2017 and AAC Coach of the Year in 2024-25.

Defense has been a staple of Aston’s teams her entire coaching career. Each of her eight teams at Texas ranked in the top-25 nationally in rebounding margin, including three years in the top-five. Her 2017-18 and 2018-19 teams ranked third in the NCAA in rebounding margin. Four of the top-eight single-season team rebounding averages in Texas history came during Aston’s tenure, as did five of the top-nine best seasons in field-goal percentage defense.

Aston’s prowess as one of the nation’s best recruiters is also well known. Five of the classes she recruited to Texas were ranked among the top-11 in the nation according to ESPN.com, including three top-five classes. Recruits Charli Collier and Joyner Holmes were both No. 2 prospects according to ESPN and were listed as the nation’s top recruits by some services. Aston brought 14 McDonald’s All-Americans to Texas during her eight seasons.