Aaron Horn was named assistant women's basketball coach on May 10, 2016. He spent six seasons with the Coyotes until April of 2022.
Horn was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Thirty Under 30 class of 2017.
In his six seasons at South Dakota, the Coyotes compiled a 135-27 record, qualified for four NCAA Tournaments (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), won three Summit League regulars season titles (2018, 2020, 2022) and captured three Summit League Tournament Championships (2020, 2021, 2022).
The Coyotes made noise on the big stage during the 2022 NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 as a No. 10 seed. The postseason run included a 75-61 win over a receiving votes Ole Miss squad, followed by a 61-47 takedown of No. 7/5 Baylor in the second round. It was the biggest win in program history and a Summit League squad’s first win over a top-10 nationally ranked team since 1994. South Dakota fell to No. 12/12 Michigan, 52-49, in the Sweet 16.
Working on the staff of three-time Summit League Coach of the Year Dawn Plitzuweit, Horn helped her become the fastest Summit League coach to reach 100 wins in just 124 games. He’s been a part of five 20-win seasons at USD.
On the national stage, the Coyotes have made a name for themselves as a premier mid-major program. Twice in his final three seasons, USD finished the season No. 1 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll. The 2019-20 Coyotes finished No. 17/11 in the final Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. USD’s No. 11 ranking is the highest national ranking bestowed upon a Summit team. The Coyotes set Summit League records during the season for weeks in both polls with 16 weeks in the coaches’ poll and 12 weeks in the AP poll. USD also completed the 2021-22 season at No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
South Dakota has stamped its name all across the Summit’s record book in Plitzuweit’s tutelage. In the 30 years of the Summit League’s history, only four teams have ever run the table during the regular season. Two of those four teams were the Coyotes – in 2018 and 2020. Her 2020 squad routed league opponents by an average of 32 points per game, becoming the first and only program to go undefeated in the Summit regular season and win the Summit League Tournament. Other Summit records include the most consecutive overall wins (20, 2017-18), most consecutive league wins (24, 2019-21), most consecutive home league wins (40, 2017-2022), highest overall winning percentage (.938, 2019-20), fewest losses (2, 2019-20).
With Horn on the bench, South Dakota women’s basketball recorded its first-ever wins against AP Top 25 teams. South Dakota topped No. 23/22 Iowa State 64-59 at home and followed that up with a 74-61 road win at No. 22/24 Missouri during the 2018-19 season. South Dakota became ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Division I Coaches Poll for the first time in program history on Feb. 11, 2019. The team remained ranked for two weeks in the AP Top 25 and five weeks in the coaches’ poll. The Coyotes’ biggest win was over No. 7/5 Baylor in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Horn has coached six all-Summit League players highlighted by 2020 Becky Hammon Mid-Major and Summit League Player of the Year Ciara Duffy, a three-time all-league first team pick. Chloe Lamb, a three-time all-league pick, was the 2022 Summit League Player of the Year. Other all-league players include three-time first-team picks Hannah Sjerven and Allison Arens, two-time pick Liv Korngable, and Jasmine Trimboli. With defense as the cornerstone of Plitzuweit’s style, South Dakota picked up the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year five times between Trimboli (2018), Arens (2019) and Sjerven (2020, 2021, 2022). The Coyotes led the league in scoring defense all five years.
The Coyotes are the only program in Summit history to total five players on the first team, second team or honorable mention squad and Plitzuweit’s teams have done it twice (2018, 2020).
Horn came to South Dakota from Ursuline College (Ohio). The Arrows won the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament to reach the 2016 NCAA Division II Tournament. Horn coached the guards, worked on player development, recruited back-to-back GMAC Freshmen of the Year, scouted opponents, organized travel, monitored academics and coordinated the team’s community outreach.
Horn also brings coaching experience from the AAU level. He spent four years as the head coach for the Toledo Elite AAU Club and two years at the helm of the Cleveland Wolverines AAU Club. Horn led the Wolverines to two undefeated regular seasons and helped four players earn scholarships.
During the summers, Horn spent time as a coach/counselor at the University of Notre Dame’s women’s basketball camp as well as working camps at Toledo and St. Francis High School.
Horn earned his bachelor’s of business administration from the University of Toledo in 2012.
