New Maryland basketball coach Kevin Willard is expected to hire Tony Skinn as an assistant coach in his new staff, sources told InsideMDSports. Skinn, who spent this season as an assistant at Ohio State, is a Takoma Park native who previously spent three seasons at Willard State at Seton Hall.
A former George Mason standout defenseman who helped the Patriots in their stunning run to the 2006 Final Four, Skinn is known as a promising young assistant with a knack for recruiting, developing players and building relationships.
“Tony is highly recommended at all levels – in the NBA, college, AAU and high school,” Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann said last year after he hired him. “Tony was an outstanding player on the Final Four team and as a professional.” During his coaching career he has developed a reputation for being a great worker, he is detail oriented, builds great relationships with players and is an outstanding recruiter. He has strong connections in the DC metro area and has worked with some very successful high school, AAU and college programs.”
Before joining Willard at Seton Hall, Skinn worked at Louisiana Tech helping the Bulldogs win 63 games in three seasons. Having started coaching with the local Team Takeover, he is well-connected in the local grassroots and high school basketball circles and can be Willard’s top local recruiter. But he’s not exactly a recruiter.
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“He researches the personnel of each team,” Holtmann said in a recent interview.
Skinn, who was born in Nigeria, also has international basketball connections. That’s how Seton Hall hired Aiki Obiaga, a one-time Maryland recruiter whose uncle was Skinn’s teammate on the Nigeria national team. This season, Obiagu broke NBA player Samuel Dalembert’s school record for blocked shots.
He also used his “Nigerian connections” to lure Anthony Duruji to the Lusiana Institute of Technology and bring French Alexis Yetna to France.
With the addition of Skinn, bench coaching positions remain open, though Willard could be close to filling both.