Men's Basketball Assistant Hired As Western Kentucky Head Man

April 15, 2003

By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Former Western Kentucky player Darrin Horn was hired as coach of the Hilltoppers on Tuesday.

Horn was an assistant under Marquette coach Tom Crean for four seasons; Crean was an assistant with the Hilltoppers during Horn's first three years as a player.

"He is someone we consider a rising star, and rather than let someone else catch this rising star, we decided, 'Let's get him for Western,"' athletic director Wood Selig said.

The 30-year-old Horn replaces Dennis Felton, who left to become coach at Georgia last week after five seasons.

Horn was a guard for Western Kentucky from 1992-95, when the Hilltoppers went 94-32 and played in the NCAA tournament three times under coach Ralph Willard.

Horn joined the staff of Western Kentucky coach Matt Kilcullen in 1995, and was an assistant at Morehead State for two seasons before joining Crean in May 1999.

"It's good to be home. Being here tonight is a dream come true," Horn said during a news conference at Diddle Arena. "There's no place in America, there's no place in college basketball I would rather be. This is where my heart is. This is where my passion is."

Horn beat out current Western Kentucky assistant Pete Hermann, Texas assistant Frank Haith and Willard, the coach at Holy Cross, for the job.

Felton led Western Kentucky the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament championships the last three seasons, and the Hilltoppers played in the last three NCAA tournaments, losing in the first round each time.

Crean, who guided Marquette to the Final Four this season, said Horn's ability to recruit and develop a strong relationship with Western Kentucky's administration and students will help the program "reach new heights."

"Darrin has the blueprint in how successful programs operate," Crean said.

Horn was hired by Morehead State coach Kyle Macy in 1997. Macy said Horn listed on his job application a desire to become a head coach by age 30.

"Looks like he'll achieve that goal," Macy said. "He was always very driven, very goal-oriented."