Xavier women’s basketball head coach Brian Neal announced three staff changes as Garry Horton was elevated to assistant coach, Mark Ehlen was named Director of Basketball Performance and Netta Smith was hired as the Director of Basketball Operations.
Horton joined the Musketeer staff in August 2013, Ehlen, XU head coach from 1986-96, spent the 2013-14 season on the Musketeer staff as an assistant coach, while Smith will start in her role on May 1.
Horton is entering his seventh season at the Division I level, including spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Furman and two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Louisville. During his time at Furman, Horton was part of a staff that led the Paladins to a 41-49 overall record (28-32 SoCon) and three consecutive appearances in the Southern Conference Tournament. From 2010-13 Furman had one second team All-SoCon selection and a SoCon Freshman of the Year (SoCon All-Freshman Team) honoree.
Prior to joining Furman in the summer of 2010, Horton was boys assistant head coach at Hughes Center High School in Cincinnati. In addition to his position at Hughes Center, Horton served as boys varsity head coach and director of operations for the Quinn Anvils basketball squad of the Derek Smith AAU All-Stars in Louisville and in 2008-09 was the varsity boys basketball coach at Louisville’s S.V. Noe Middle School.
From 2006-08 Horton held the position of women’s basketball graduate assistant coach and academic advisor at the University of Louisville, under head coach Jeff Walz. During that period, the Cardinals posted a 53-18 record and made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
Ehlen has 22 years of Division I head coaching experience, all in the state of Ohio, posting a 362-279 overall record in stints at Toledo (1995-08) and Xavier (1986-95). One of the winningest coaches in Mid-American Conference history, Ehlen spent 13 seasons (1996-2008) at Toledo, earning four MAC Coach of the Year awards and leading the Rockets to eight MAC titles and six postseason berths. A two-time Women’s Basketball Coaches Association District 4 Coach of the Year, Ehlen posted a 240-149 record and finished his career at Toledo second in MAC history in conference wins and fifth in overall winning percentage. His 1998-99 team was ranked No. 25 in the final Associated Press poll.
In nine seasons (1986-96) on the bench at Xavier, Ehlen won 122 games and led the Musketeers to the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history in 1993. He helped XU to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular season title in 1992 and the conference tournament title in 1993. His charges were excellent in the classroom as well, holding above a 3.0 grade point average during his nine-year tenure and achieving a 100% graduation rate for four-year players during that span.
A native of Massillon, Ohio, Smith was a three-year letterwinner at Bowling Green State University. She helped lead the Falcons to a 49-34 overall record and a trip to the WNIT during her time in the Orange and Brown. Smith, the all-time leading scorer at Massillon Washington HS, played in 56 games at BGSU, including one start.
As Director of Basketball Operations, Smith will perform a plethora of duties, including supervising student managers, assisting with the coordination of team travel and serving as a liaison with multiple areas within the athletic department.
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