Former Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Guard Michael Horton Has Died

Horrible news hit the wire on Monday afternoon. Former Cincinnati Bearcats guard Michael Horton is dead. He was a key member of the late 90's Bearcats basketball teams.

Horton appeared in 57 games during the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons, averaging 4.8 points and 4.9 assists.

His former teammate and big Bearcat supporter, Alex Meacham, posted about the news on X.

"RIP to my Bearcat teammate Michael Horton," Meachem posted. "I’ll never forget when Jay Z’s song 'Imaginary Player' came on in the locker room, and we went back and forth bar for bar every word of the song. Every time we saw each other, we would rap the lyrics and just laugh. Rest Easy Bearcat!"

Horton earned a spot on the 1998 All-Conference USA Tournament team and was top five in C-USA steals per game that season.

The Bearcat basketball legacy is as important as ever entering the 2026-27 season. New UC coach Jerrod Calhoun is excited to welcome back alums like Horton all the time.

He unfortunately won't get to see the team rise from the NCAA Tournament ashes over the next few years.

"I think that's why we're here, right?" Calhoun said earlier this offseason about tying all the former greats together and bonding with current players. "Obviously, we're here for a reason. We're here to get them back to the NCAA Tournament to make deep runs. This is a storied program, two national championships, the list goes on and on. It's a fan base that is starving to get back in the NCAA tournament, and we fully expect to do that.

"We have to bring back the former players. I think Wes Miller did a phenomenal job with that. They'll be part of our mentorship program, our character class, our team messaging. We want our former guys to make sure that they know this is their program. There's been a lot of great players, great coaches that have built this thing, and we got to continue to move it forward."

RIP to my Bearcat teammate Michael Horton. I’ll never forget when Jay Z’s song “Imaginary Player” came on in the locker room and we went back and forth bar for bar every word of the song. Every time we saw each other, we would rap the lyrics and just laugh. Rest Easy Bearcat! 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/LOKRI0H0JS
— Alex Meacham (@Alex_Meacham) August 24, 2026

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