April 8, 2010

Dieter Horton, who guided Fullerton College to an undefeated season and a California junior college championship and then led Antelope Valley College to a runner-up state finish, was named an assistant coach at USC, Trojan men's basketball head coach Kevin O'Neill announced today (April 8).

O'Neill also announced that Bob Cantu, a Trojan assistant the past nine seasons, has been promoted to associate head coach.

Last month, O'Neill promoted strength and conditioning manager Tony Miller to assistant head coach.

"Dieter has a tremendous amount of coaching experience as a head coach and he'll be a valuable addition to our staff," said O'Neill. "He has produced successful teams wherever he's been. I'm extremely pleased he is joining us."

Horton, 39, spent the past four years (2007-10) at Antelope Valley College, where he went 97-47 (.674) and got to the 2007 state championship final. The Marauders went 31-7 in 2007, a school record for wins. His 2008 team won the Foothill Conference crown while going 25-11.

He was at Fullerton College for 10 seasons (1997-2006), posting a 198-124 (.615) record, and the Hornets advanced to post-season play each year. Thirty of his Fullerton players signed with four-year schools, including 18 with NCAA Division I programs. In 2006, Fullerton went 37-0 (the most wins in California junior college history) en route to winning the state championship. It was just the fourth time that a California junior college team had a perfect record (among the other coaches to have done so were Jerry Tarkanian and Bill Mulligan).

Horton graduated from CS Fullerton in 1994 with a degree in kinesiology. He spent two years as the student manager for the Titan's basketball team and another as the program's administrative assistant. Before that, he worked as an assistant at Villa Park High (Calif.) and Fullerton High (Calif.).

He is married and his wife's name is Chelsie. He has a son, Charles, six.