Horn moving on from Texas men’s basketball to become NKU head coach

As Darrin Horn helped Longhorns move up and on to another level, he now has his chance to step into a larger role.

Horn, an assistant coach on Shaka Smart’s Texas men’s basketball staff for the past four years, accepted the job to become the head coach at Northern Kentucky University on Tuesday.

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“It’s a thrill for me to be named the head coach at Northern Kentucky,” Horn said in a statement from the school. “It was a job I’ve had my eye on for a while now. There is great momentum and energy surrounding both the basketball program and University.”

The 49-year-old Kentucky native will be returning to his home state, as Horn grew up in Glasgow, Ky. Horn played at Western Kentucky in the early 90s before moving to become an assistant coach at the school. Then he was an assistant at Morehead State and Marquette before becoming a head coach at both Western Kentucky and South Carolina.

Playing the part of associate head coach this past season, Horn played a big role in development, especially for Longhorn big men, on the Forty Acres over his four years in Austin.

Last year, under his tutelage, both Mo Bamba and Jarrett Allen refined their games en route to being selected in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft.

This season, Jaxson Hayes was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, and the UT big man is heading to the 2019 NBA Draft after a solid season growing under Horn and Smart, projecting to be a possible first-round pick. Meanwhile fellow big man Dylan Osetkowski also saw his game go to another level as well during his senior season this year.

“I’m very excited for Darrin and his family about this terrific opportunity,” Smart said in a release by UT. “Over the past four years, he’s been a valuable asset to our program and impacted our team and staff in many ways. We are extremely grateful for all that Darrin has done at UT and will follow his success at Northern Kentucky with great excitement.”

Texas will search for a new assistant coach now as Horn’s departure leaves Smart with two current assistants: Neill Berry and Jai Lucas.

As Texas made its way to an eventual 2019 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) Championship this season, Horn was a vital piece of piecing together the ever-changing frontcourt and makeup of the Horns.

The chance to become the head man once again back where it all began was too much for Horn to pass up as he considered staying with the Longhorns or moving on. The new Northern Kentucky coach was 111-48 while he was with Western Kentucky from 2003-2008, and he went 60-63 at South Carolina.

NKU plays in the Horizon League and has gone 72-30 over the past three seasons, with two regular-season titles and two appearances in the NCAA tournament.

“Norse Basketball is a winning program with players who know what it takes to win,” Horn said. “I am impressed with the vision that both Ken [Bothof] and President Vaidya have for the program and University. My family and I can’t wait to join the Norse family and Northern Kentucky community.”

NKU’s previous head coach, John Brannen, accepted a job to become head coach of Cincinnati after this season.

A press conference is scheduled for Thursday to introduce Horn along with a celebration of the hiring.

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