Parker Executive Search Lands Basketball Coach for Northern Kentucky University

April 29, 2019 – With the assistance of Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search, Northern Kentucky University has chosen Darrin Horn as its new men’s head basketball coach. For coach John Brannen left the school to take on the head basketball coach role at the University of Cincinnati.

“Throughout the hiring process, it became clear that Darrin was the right fit to lead the Norse men’s basketball program,” said Ken Bothof, director of athletics. “Not only does he have ties to Kentucky from his prep and collegiate playing days, but he’s also been a successful head coach at Western Kentucky.”

Mr. Horn is coming off four seasons at Texas, having served the last season as the program’s associate head coach. During his tenure at Texas, the Longhorns went 71-66 and won the 2019 NIT. Horn had the primary responsibility of developing Texas’ frontcourt and has seen two players move onto the NBA. Mr. Horn played at Western Kentucky from 1991 to 95. From there, he held assistant coaching positons at Western Kentucky, Morehead State and Marquette before serving as the head coach at both Western Kentucky and South Carolina. As head coach at Western Kentucky, Mr. Horn led the team to a 111-48 record from 2003 to 2008, culminating in Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament titles and a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2007-08.

“It’s a thrill for me to be named the head coach at Northern Kentucky,” said Mr. Horn. “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. Norse basketball is a winning program with players who know what it takes to win.”

Parker Executive Search conducts executive searches for corporations, colleges and universities and collegiate athletics. Its sports practice represents clients looking to fill positions such as president, CEO, EVP, SVP, general manager, executive director, conference commissioner, athletic director, head coach and assistant coach, among others. The firm’s sports practice has a wide range of client schools, including Notre Dame, Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, Iowa State, Fordham and the University of Central Florida.

Dan Parker is the search firm’s vice president and managing director. He has worked on numerous corporate vice president searches, collegiate athletic director searches and collegiate basketball, baseball and football head coach searches. Mr. Parker is also responsible for business development and candidate development.

College Basketball and Search Firms

Universities continue to turn to executive search firms to find new head coaches for their respective basketball programs. Here is a look at a handful from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

Fogler Consulting recently placed T.J. Otzelberger as the men’s head basketball coach for the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (UNLV). Mr. Otzelberger comes to UNLV from South Dakota State University, where he compiled a record of 70-33 during three years as head coach.

Ventura Partners recruited Carolyn Kieger as the sixth head coach of the women’s basketball program at Penn State University. Partner Chad Chatlos led the nationwide search. Ms. Kieger, a 2019 Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year Award semifinalist, guided Marquette University to the top of the Big East Conference and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances as the Golden Eagles’ head coach.

Just a few months after recruiting Vanderbilt University’s athletic director, Korn Ferry has placed NBA legend Jerry Stackhouse as the school’s new men’s head basketball coach. “Jerry Stackhouse‘s storied career speaks for itself — he embodies Vanderbilt’s commitment to excellence, on and off the court,” said chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos.

Turnkey Search placed Fred Hoiberg as the head coach for the men’s basketball program at the University of Nebraska. This followed a comprehensive national search led by Turnkey managing director Gene DeFilippo. Mr. Hoiberg has five years of experience as a college head coach, guiding his alma mater, Iowa State, to four NCAA Tournaments, in five seasons from 2011 to 2015.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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