SAN ANTONIO – UTSA women's basketball head coach Karen Aston announced the hiring of Lauren Fruits as the new director of operations for the Roadrunners.
"Extremely excited to bring Lauren on board with our program," Aston said. "We worked together previously and I know her work ethic and attention to detail. Lauren will help our Roadrunner program take a leap in several areas that are necessary. She will help us grow our camp and help our program in the engagement with the community. All of the organizational duties are a given, due to her diligence in getting the job done, but the real gift will be her commitment to helping us renovate the culture here, and taking care of the student-athletes' needs."
Fruits was previously on Aston's staff at the University of Texas from 2018-20 in two different roles.
"I'm beyond excited to get the opportunity to work with Coach Aston again and am looking forward to working with her new staff," Fruits said. "I can't wait to get to campus, meet everyone, and get to work!"
For the 2019-20 season, Fruits served as the special assistant in which her duties included overseeing and administering the Longhorns' recruiting efforts and served as the director of summer camps for the team.
Prior to serving in that role, Fruit was the team's graduate manager for the 2018-19 season where she coordinated schedule for managers and practice players, assisted with game and opponent scouting, coordinated community service appearances and was involved in on-campus recruiting.
From 2011-18, Fruits coached and taught business education at Lee's Summit North High school – her alma mater – in Lee's Summit, Mo. She was the head junior varsity girls basketball coach from 2014-18 and the varsity girls golf coach from 2016-19. She also served as an assistant for the junior varsity and varsity basketball teams from 2009-14 and for golf from 2013-15.
Fruits played basketball at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo. She was named the team's Most Valuable Player in 2006 and earned the Eagle Award in 2007. She earned a bachelor's degree in business with a minor in education in 2006 and a Masters of Education in 2009 from Central Methodist. In 2019, she earned a Masters of Education in sport management from Texas.
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