Ex-Hawk Jeff Horner Returns To Iowa As A Head Coach

The Iowa men's basketball team will play an exhibition game tonight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. October basketball games usually don't get much attention. But tonight's game will be special, especially for the opposing head coach.

Iowa will host Truman State at 7 p.m. tonight in Iowa City. Truman State is a Division II school out of Kirksville, Missouri that just so happens to be coached by former Iowa point guard Jeff Horner. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Horner played at Iowa from 2002 to 2006 after being named Mr. Basketball in the state in 2002. Horner played high school basketball at Mason City.

Horner had an outstanding career for the Hawkeyes. The Gazette reports that Horner started 122 games at Iowa. He is second on the all-time list for assists and three-point shots. He was also named MVP of the 2006 Big Ten Tournament that Iowa won. Horner called his time at Iowa, "some of the greatest years of my life." But now he returns to the floor at Carver as a head coach and a good one at that.

The Gazette reports that Horner has gone 77-36 in his four years at Truman State, leading the team to the last three NCAA Division II tournaments. Horner says that this team is special because of how many Iowa players it has. The Gazette reports that this Truman State team has 10 Iowa natives on it, including Caleb Schaak who played at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Horner's Truman State team will also visit Big Ten team Purdue for an exhibition game on Wednesday night, according to the Gazette. 

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