Al Skinner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Al Skinner | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Head coach | |
| College | Boston College | |
| Sport | Basketball | |
| Born | June 16, 1952 (age 54) | |
| Place of birth |  Mount Vernon, New York |
|
| Career Highlights | ||
| Overall | 313-234 (19 seasons) | |
| Championships | ||
| Big East Tournament Championship (2001)
Big East Regular Season Championship (2001, 2005) |
||
| Awards | ||
| National Coach of the Year (2001)
Big East Coach of the Year (2001, 2005) |
||
| School as a player | ||
| 1971-1974 | Massachusetts | |
| Position | Guard | |
| Coaching positions | ||
| 1982-1984 1984-1988 1988-1997 1997-present |
Marist (asst.) Rhode Island (asst.) Rhode Island Boston College |
|
Albert L. (Al) Skinner (born June 16, 1952 in Mount Vernon, New York) is a men's college basketball head coach and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. Presently, he is in his tenth year as the head coach of the Boston College basketball team.
Skinner was a standout player at the University of Massachusetts alongside Julius Erving. Skinner played professionally in the ABA, leading the New York Nets to an ABA title in 1976.
After retiring from professional ball, Skinner entered the college coaching ranks. He served as an assistant at Marist from 1982-84 and later served in that capacity at the University of Rhode Island. He was named head coach of URI beginning with the 1988-1989 season and remained through the 1996-1997 campaign. On April 17, 1997, Skinner was hired to lead the Boston College Eagles basketball team.
He was named coach of the year nationally in 2000-01. Boston College was a #3 seed that year. As a 4 seed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, they lost to 12 seed Milwaukee. He was named Big East Coach of the Year in 2004-05. He has also been honored as the Atlantic 10 coach of the year in 1991-92. Skinner's 2004-2005 team was the first Big East team in history to start a season 20-0. During the 2005-2006 season, Al Skinner became the all-time winningest coach in Boston College history, surpassing Jim O'Brien's 168 wins.
He has taken Boston College to five NCAA Tournaments, and took Rhode Island to two. Overall he has been to seven NCAA Tournaments as a head coach and ten postseasons in all (NCAA and NIT).
He has been inducted into the UMass and URI athletics halls of fame, and BC's will likely follow.
[edit] Trivia
- Coach Skinner is known for his impeccable dress habits among Boston College fans, earning him the nickname "Coach Handsome". Those who watch closely notice that Skinner only wears a tie for home games, electing to wear either a polo or mock turtleneck on the road. It is rumored that Skinner does not wear the same suit twice in a given season.
- Skinner is a spokesperson for Eastern Clothing of Watertown, a prominent men's clothing store near Boston College.
- Skinner's jersey (#30) was retired by the University of Massachusetts in 2004.
- Skinner was a teammate of basketball legend Julius Erving and Louisville head coach Rick Pitino at UMass and with Erving on the 1976 New York Nets ABA Championship team.
- During the college basketball season, WEEI radio broadcasts the Al Skinner Show. The half hour program hosted by Ted Sarandis is taped before a live audience at the Metropolitan Club in Chestnut Hill and aired each Thursday.[1]
| Preceded by Jim O'Brien |
Boston College Eagles Head Basketball Coach 1997– |
Succeeded by current |
[edit] References
- ^ "Al Skinner Show Invites Live Audience", Boston College, 2006-12-11. Retrieved on February 1, 2007.
Categories: 1952 births | Living people | American basketball coaches | American basketball players | Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches | Boston College Eagles men's basketball coaches | UMass Minutemen basketball players | New York Nets players | New Jersey Nets players | Detroit Pistons players | Philadelphia 76ers players
