A native of Mason City, Iowa, Horner returns to the state of Iowa where he was named the state’s Mr. Basketball in 2002 before he went on to shine as the starting point guard for the Iowa Hawkeyes (2003-06). With the Hawkeyes, he was named team MVP from 2004-06, was a two-time All-Big Ten Third Team selection and named the MVP of the BIG Ten Tournament in 2006.
Following a brief professional career, Horner then got into the coaching ranks as an assistant coach in 2009-10 at Grand View University in Des Moines. In his lone season with the Vikings, he was part of a program that went 25-9 and won the Midwest Collegiate Conference crown while also qualifying for the DII NAIA National Tournament.
For the next four years, Horner was the head boys’ basketball coach at West Des Moines Valley and chalked up a 70-27 record, won two conference titles, made a pair of state tournament appearances and finished as state runner-up in 2013-14. He was also a two-time CIML Coach of the Year and coached Peter Jok, who was named Mr. Basketball in 2013.
Horner moved onto the collegiate ranks in 2014-15 when he became the director of basketball operations at the University of North Dakota. A year later, he took over as an assistant coach within the program and remained on staff from 2015-18. During his tenure, the Fighting Hawks won a conference regular season and tournament title in 2016-17 and qualified into the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament.
“My overall vision for the program will be to bring good character student-athletes to the team who are going to play hard,” adds Horner. “I want our guys to have a great experience on-and-off the court. I promise we will compete night in and night out!”
Horner, who was inducted into the Iowa High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, will begin his duties with BVU immediately.
