UTSA head coach Steve Henson has been named the 2018 Conference USA Gene Bartow Coach of the Year, as voted by Conference USA head coaches and media members, the conference announced Wednesday morning.
Henson guided UTSA to its best finish in five years as a member of Conference USA, posting an 11-7 league record and a fifth-place showing in the regular season.
Just two years after taking over a program that had won five games, he led the team to 18 victories heading into this week’s conference championship.
It marks the school’s first winning season since the 2011-12 campaign. The Roadrunners are 11-3 at home at the Convocation Center in each of his two seasons at the helm.
The Roadrunners success this season is due largely to a number of key first-year members that Henson brought to the program. A UTSA frosh was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week 10 times this season, with Jhivvan Jackson earning seven honors and Keaton Wallace three.
Jackson was named C-USA Freshman of the Year and second team All-Conference after setting a new UTSA freshman scoring record, while Wallace, the team’s co-second-leading scorer was listed on the All-Freshman squad.
Junior guard transfer Deon Lyle stepped in to become the team’s leading three-point shooter and co-second-leading scorer en route to earning C-USA Sixth Player of the Year.
Henson becomes the second coach in UTSA history to be named conference coach of the year, joining Tim Carter, the 1999 Southland Conference Coach of the Year. The last seven C-USA Coach of the Year awards have come from seven different schools.
