University of Minnesota Athletics
Staff Directory
Aaron Horn
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Email:
Horn, a Cleveland, Ohio, native joined Minnesota’s staff in the Twin Cities after spending the previous seven seasons with Plitzuweit at West Virginia and South Dakota. He was officially introduced to the staff on March 27, 2023.
Horn assisted bringing the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team to new heights during the 2025-26 season, helping guide the Golden Gophers to their best season in over 20 years with a run to the Sweet Sixteen, where they fell to eventual national champion, UCLA.
Minnesota reached the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season and ended the 2025-26 Big Ten season with a 13-5 record. The 13 league victories matched a program high, previously accomplished in 1982-83 and 1984-85. Minnesota’s strong conference performance earned the team the No. 4 seed and a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, marking its highest finish since the 2017-18 season.
The Gophers secured three top wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including two victories over top-10 teams, marking the program’s first season with multiple top-10 wins since 2003-04. Highlights included a win over No. 21 USC and victories over No. 10 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and No. 10 Ohio State at The Barn. The win over Iowa marked the program’s first top-10 road victory since 2003. The team’s three ranked wins were its most since the 2017-18 season.
The regular-season success paid off, as Minnesota finished with a No. 18 ranking in the AP Poll, a No. 19 ranking in the USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Poll, and a No. 9 NET ranking, the third highest in the Big Ten. Minnesota earned the opportunity to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, its highest seed since 2005 when Minnesota was a No. 3 seed. It marked the program’s 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018, its first time hosting since 2005 and just the fourth time doing so in program history.
During his second season at Minnesota, Horn assisted the Gophers to a 25-11 mark and winning the 2025 WBIT (Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament). The Maroon & Gold recorded their first 25 win season since 2004-05 (26-8, 12-4 B1G) and back-to-back 20 win seasons since 2017-18 and 2018-19. Horn assisted in coaching Amaya Battle and Grace Grocholski to All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades. Following the 2024-25 season, Horn was promoted to Associated Head Coach.
In Horn's first season in Minneapolis, the Gophers won 20 games, finishing with an overall record of 20-16. The squad reached the WNIT Championship game and finished as the runner-up. In 2023-24, Horn helped coach a pair of All-Big Ten Honorable Mention guards in Mara Braun and Amaya Battle while also coaching Grace Grocholski to a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection.
Horn aided the West Virginia staff to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and coached three All-Big 12 selections. Horn was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Thirty Under 30 class of 2017 and helped Plitzuweit become the fastest Summit League coach to reach 100 wins in just 124 games.
Prior to his time in Vermillion, South Dakota, Horn spent three seasons (2013-16) at Division II Ursuline College (Ohio) as an assistant. The Arrows won the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament to reach the 2016 NCAA Division II Tournament. 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 earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Toledo in 2012.
In 2021-22, South Dakota finished the season with a 29-6 record and won the Summit League title in the regular season and conference tournament. Following its third consecutive conference tournament title, USD earned the automatic bid for the Summit League in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, earning a No. 10 seed, and defeated No. 7-seeded Ole Miss, 75-61.
South Dakota met up with No. 2-seeded Baylor in the round of 32 and defeated the Bears, 61-47, on their home court in Waco, Texas, to advance to the first Sweet 16 in program history. The Coyotes led from start to finish to snap BU’s streak of 12 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.
South Dakota concluded the 2021-22 campaign with a 52-49 loss to No. 3-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16, in which the Coyotes were tied with the Wolverines until 22 seconds remained in the game.
While at South Dakota, Horn helped Plitzuweit’s teams assert themselves as the premier mid-major program in the country. USD tallied at least 28 wins in four seasons and never lost more than nine games in Horn’s six years with the team.
Moreover, in the history of the Summit League, only four teams have ever run the table during the regular season. Two of those three teams were Plitzuweit’s Coyotes – in 2018 and 2020. In 2020, her squad outscored league opponents by an average of 32 points per game and became the first and only program to go undefeated in the Summit League’s regular season and win the conference tournament championship.
Horn also helped Plitzuweit’s South Dakota teams capture the Summit League records for the most consecutive wins (20, 2017-18), most consecutive league wins (24, 2019-21), most consecutive home league wins (31, 2017-pres.), highest overall winning percentage (.938, 2019-20) and fewest losses (2, 2019-20).
During his time at South Dakota, the Coyotes made their first appearance in the Associated Press (AP) and USA Today Coaches polls, ranking as high as No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll, both of which came during the 2019-20 campaign. Of note, USD’s No. 11 ranking in the Coaches Poll in 2020 is the highest national ranking earned by a team in the Summit League’s history.
South Dakota also set the Summit League records during the 2019-20 season for weeks in both polls, with 16 weeks in the Coaches Poll and 12 weeks in the AP Poll. From 2018-22, USD has received votes or been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 45 weeks.
Statistically, Horn was part of a coaching staff that helped South Dakota rank in the top 20 nationally in scoring margin and turnover margin from 2018-22. During that four-year stretch, the Coyotes outscored their opponents by an average of 18.5 points per game and maintained a turnover margin of 6.2 during that span.
Horn has coached 11 All-Summit League players, a pair of Summit League Players of the Year in Ciara Duffy (2020) and Chloe Lamb (2022). Other all-league players include three-time first-team pick Allison Arens, three-time first-team pick Hannah Sjerven, three-time pick Liv Korngable and two-time pick Jasmine Trimboli. With defense a point of emphasis in the program, South Dakota picked up five straight Summit League Defensive Player of the Year nods from 2018-22, including Trimboli (2018), Arens (2019) and Sjerven (2020, 2021, 2022). The Coyotes also led the league in scoring defense each season during that five-year stretch.
Horn also has spent time during the summers 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 Toledo in 2012.
Horn assisted bringing the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team to new heights during the 2025-26 season, helping guide the Golden Gophers to their best season in over 20 years with a run to the Sweet Sixteen, where they fell to eventual national champion, UCLA.
Minnesota reached the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season and ended the 2025-26 Big Ten season with a 13-5 record. The 13 league victories matched a program high, previously accomplished in 1982-83 and 1984-85. Minnesota’s strong conference performance earned the team the No. 4 seed and a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, marking its highest finish since the 2017-18 season.
The Gophers secured three top wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including two victories over top-10 teams, marking the program’s first season with multiple top-10 wins since 2003-04. Highlights included a win over No. 21 USC and victories over No. 10 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and No. 10 Ohio State at The Barn. The win over Iowa marked the program’s first top-10 road victory since 2003. The team’s three ranked wins were its most since the 2017-18 season.
The regular-season success paid off, as Minnesota finished with a No. 18 ranking in the AP Poll, a No. 19 ranking in the USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Poll, and a No. 9 NET ranking, the third highest in the Big Ten. Minnesota earned the opportunity to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, its highest seed since 2005 when Minnesota was a No. 3 seed. It marked the program’s 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018, its first time hosting since 2005 and just the fourth time doing so in program history.
During his second season at Minnesota, Horn assisted the Gophers to a 25-11 mark and winning the 2025 WBIT (Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament). The Maroon & Gold recorded their first 25 win season since 2004-05 (26-8, 12-4 B1G) and back-to-back 20 win seasons since 2017-18 and 2018-19. Horn assisted in coaching Amaya Battle and Grace Grocholski to All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades. Following the 2024-25 season, Horn was promoted to Associated Head Coach.
In Horn's first season in Minneapolis, the Gophers won 20 games, finishing with an overall record of 20-16. The squad reached the WNIT Championship game and finished as the runner-up. In 2023-24, Horn helped coach a pair of All-Big Ten Honorable Mention guards in Mara Braun and Amaya Battle while also coaching Grace Grocholski to a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection.
Horn aided the West Virginia staff to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and coached three All-Big 12 selections. Horn was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Thirty Under 30 class of 2017 and helped Plitzuweit become the fastest Summit League coach to reach 100 wins in just 124 games.
Prior to his time in Vermillion, South Dakota, Horn spent three seasons (2013-16) at Division II Ursuline College (Ohio) as an assistant. The Arrows won the Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament to reach the 2016 NCAA Division II Tournament. 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 earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Toledo in 2012.
In 2021-22, South Dakota finished the season with a 29-6 record and won the Summit League title in the regular season and conference tournament. Following its third consecutive conference tournament title, USD earned the automatic bid for the Summit League in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, earning a No. 10 seed, and defeated No. 7-seeded Ole Miss, 75-61.
South Dakota met up with No. 2-seeded Baylor in the round of 32 and defeated the Bears, 61-47, on their home court in Waco, Texas, to advance to the first Sweet 16 in program history. The Coyotes led from start to finish to snap BU’s streak of 12 consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.
South Dakota concluded the 2021-22 campaign with a 52-49 loss to No. 3-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16, in which the Coyotes were tied with the Wolverines until 22 seconds remained in the game.
While at South Dakota, Horn helped Plitzuweit’s teams assert themselves as the premier mid-major program in the country. USD tallied at least 28 wins in four seasons and never lost more than nine games in Horn’s six years with the team.
Moreover, in the history of the Summit League, only four teams have ever run the table during the regular season. Two of those three teams were Plitzuweit’s Coyotes – in 2018 and 2020. In 2020, her squad outscored league opponents by an average of 32 points per game and became the first and only program to go undefeated in the Summit League’s regular season and win the conference tournament championship.
Horn also helped Plitzuweit’s South Dakota teams capture the Summit League records for the most consecutive wins (20, 2017-18), most consecutive league wins (24, 2019-21), most consecutive home league wins (31, 2017-pres.), highest overall winning percentage (.938, 2019-20) and fewest losses (2, 2019-20).
During his time at South Dakota, the Coyotes made their first appearance in the Associated Press (AP) and USA Today Coaches polls, ranking as high as No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll, both of which came during the 2019-20 campaign. Of note, USD’s No. 11 ranking in the Coaches Poll in 2020 is the highest national ranking earned by a team in the Summit League’s history.
South Dakota also set the Summit League records during the 2019-20 season for weeks in both polls, with 16 weeks in the Coaches Poll and 12 weeks in the AP Poll. From 2018-22, USD has received votes or been ranked in the AP Top 25 in 45 weeks.
Statistically, Horn was part of a coaching staff that helped South Dakota rank in the top 20 nationally in scoring margin and turnover margin from 2018-22. During that four-year stretch, the Coyotes outscored their opponents by an average of 18.5 points per game and maintained a turnover margin of 6.2 during that span.
Horn has coached 11 All-Summit League players, a pair of Summit League Players of the Year in Ciara Duffy (2020) and Chloe Lamb (2022). Other all-league players include three-time first-team pick Allison Arens, three-time first-team pick Hannah Sjerven, three-time pick Liv Korngable and two-time pick Jasmine Trimboli. With defense a point of emphasis in the program, South Dakota picked up five straight Summit League Defensive Player of the Year nods from 2018-22, including Trimboli (2018), Arens (2019) and Sjerven (2020, 2021, 2022). The Coyotes also led the league in scoring defense each season during that five-year stretch.
Horn also has spent time during the summers 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 Toledo in 2012.
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