Al Skinner, a former Division I national coach of the year and two-time
BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year, continued to raise the bar
entering his third season at Kennesaw State.
During the 2016-17 season, Skinner led the team that set a Division I record for wins with 14 and he got his first ASUN Tournament victory at USC Upstate with an 80-78 victory.
Along with the success as a team, several Owls had career years on the court including Kendrick Ray, Aubrey Williams and Nick Masterson.
Ray became the first KSU player to be named ASUN First Team All-Conference after averaging 21.2 points per game and leading the team with 97 assists. He set school single-season records for points per game and total points with 656.
Not only was he honored by the conference, but he was named NABC Second Team All-District, becoming the second year in a row a Kennesaw State student-athlete has been named to an NABC team with Yonel Brown.
Aubrey Williams, another senior on the team, also had a career year becoming the first player in Kennesaw State history to average a double-double with 12.9 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game. He pulled down a double-double in 19 of the 32 games and was named ASUN Second Team All-Conference for his efforts.
On the court, the continuity offense was clicking as the team finished with the third highest three-point field goal percentage in the country at 41.6 and they led the ASUN in assist to turnover ratio.
Junior Nick Masterson was a big reason for that sinking 86 three pointers at a 54.1 percent clip. His shooting percentage was the second highest in the country as he was one of two players to shoot over 50 percent in the entire country.
Skinner was named the head coach of the Kennesaw State men's basketball program on April 26, 2015.
In his first season at Kennesaw State and 23rd season as a head coach, Skinner had a big impact on the Owls team guiding them to a .500 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference for the first time since the 2006-07 season. The team won four of its final five regular season games, including beating the back-to-back ASUN Champions, North Florida.
A big part of the success came from the guard play as Kendrick Ray and Yonel Brown both thrived under Coach Skinner as each of them set a new division I single-season Kennesaw State points record at the time with 579 and 578 points respectively. The leading duo in the ASUN finished as one of three pairs in the country to average over 18 points per game with Ray averaging 18.7 ppg and Brown averaging 18.6 ppg.
Both student-athletes were honored at the end of the season as they were named ASUN Second Team All-Conference, and Ray was unanimously voted as the Newcomer of the Year.
A current member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Ethics Coalition, Skinner guided his teams to nine NCAA Tournament appearances and four conference titles during tenures at the University of Rhode Island and Boston College. His teams posted ten 20-plus win seasons.
The winningest coach in BC history, Skinner spent 13 seasons at The Heights, compiling a 247-165 (.560) record from 1997-2010. He took Boston College to six NCAA Tournaments in a seven-year stretch, leading his 2005-06 team to the Sweet 16. Four of his teams finished the year ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll, including the 2001 and 2007 clubs that concluded those seasons at No. 7.
After guiding the Eagles to a 27-5 overall record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Skinner was named 2001 National Coach of the Year by Chevrolet/CBS, ESPN,Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He also earned BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Skinner earned BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year again in 2005 after leading Boston College to a 25-5 mark and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles accomplished something no Big East team had done before by starting the season 20–0. During the streak, the Eagles beat two ranked opponents and, were one of two teams (Illinois) in the country to begin the year 20-0. Following a win over No. 9 Syracuse in early February, the Eagles vaulted to No. 3 in both the AP and coaches' polls, marking the highest ranking for any Boston College basketball team.
Prior to his time at BC, Skinner spent nine seasons as head coach at Rhode Island, leading the Rams to a 138-126 (.523) mark. Skinner took over as head coach at URI in 1988 after serving as an assistant on the Rams' bench from 1984-88.
During his tenure in Kingston, he led Rhode Island to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths (1993 and 1997) and two more National Invitational Tournament (NIT) appearances (1992 and 1996), as well as three 20+ win seasons. He was named the Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year in 1991-92 and was inducted into the University of Rhode Island Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.
Skinner came to Kennesaw State after serving two seasons as associate head coach under longtime friend Tim O'Shea at Bryant University where the Bulldogs compiled a 34-29 (.540) overall record, including a 22-12 (.647) mark in the Northeast Conference. The two have a long history of sharing a bench as O'Shea spent 14 years as an assistant under Skinner at Rhode Island and Boston College.
Skinner first broke into coaching as an assistant at Marist College in 1982 following successful stints in the ABA and NBA from 1974-80 (Nets, Pistons, 76ers). Drafted by the ABA's New York Nets in the eighth round of the 1974 draft, Skinner was named to the 1974-75 ABA All-Rookie Team and led the Nets to an ABA Championship a year later.
Prior to his professional playing career, Skinner spent three years on the court at the University of Massachusetts from 1971-74, becoming the only player in Minuteman history to be named a three-time All-Yankee Conference selection.
A team captain and All-America Honorable Mention in 1973-74, Skinner remains one of the most decorated players in UMass basketball history, concluding his career with 1,235 points, 749 rebounds and 320 assists in 79 games. Skinner was inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982, and his No. 30 jersey was retired by the Minutemen on Feb. 18, 2004.
Skinner and his wife, Donna, have two grown children, Vaniecia and Andre.
During the 2016-17 season, Skinner led the team that set a Division I record for wins with 14 and he got his first ASUN Tournament victory at USC Upstate with an 80-78 victory.
Along with the success as a team, several Owls had career years on the court including Kendrick Ray, Aubrey Williams and Nick Masterson.
Ray became the first KSU player to be named ASUN First Team All-Conference after averaging 21.2 points per game and leading the team with 97 assists. He set school single-season records for points per game and total points with 656.
Not only was he honored by the conference, but he was named NABC Second Team All-District, becoming the second year in a row a Kennesaw State student-athlete has been named to an NABC team with Yonel Brown.
Aubrey Williams, another senior on the team, also had a career year becoming the first player in Kennesaw State history to average a double-double with 12.9 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per game. He pulled down a double-double in 19 of the 32 games and was named ASUN Second Team All-Conference for his efforts.
On the court, the continuity offense was clicking as the team finished with the third highest three-point field goal percentage in the country at 41.6 and they led the ASUN in assist to turnover ratio.
Junior Nick Masterson was a big reason for that sinking 86 three pointers at a 54.1 percent clip. His shooting percentage was the second highest in the country as he was one of two players to shoot over 50 percent in the entire country.
Skinner was named the head coach of the Kennesaw State men's basketball program on April 26, 2015.
In his first season at Kennesaw State and 23rd season as a head coach, Skinner had a big impact on the Owls team guiding them to a .500 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference for the first time since the 2006-07 season. The team won four of its final five regular season games, including beating the back-to-back ASUN Champions, North Florida.
A big part of the success came from the guard play as Kendrick Ray and Yonel Brown both thrived under Coach Skinner as each of them set a new division I single-season Kennesaw State points record at the time with 579 and 578 points respectively. The leading duo in the ASUN finished as one of three pairs in the country to average over 18 points per game with Ray averaging 18.7 ppg and Brown averaging 18.6 ppg.
Both student-athletes were honored at the end of the season as they were named ASUN Second Team All-Conference, and Ray was unanimously voted as the Newcomer of the Year.
A current member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Ethics Coalition, Skinner guided his teams to nine NCAA Tournament appearances and four conference titles during tenures at the University of Rhode Island and Boston College. His teams posted ten 20-plus win seasons.
The winningest coach in BC history, Skinner spent 13 seasons at The Heights, compiling a 247-165 (.560) record from 1997-2010. He took Boston College to six NCAA Tournaments in a seven-year stretch, leading his 2005-06 team to the Sweet 16. Four of his teams finished the year ranked in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll, including the 2001 and 2007 clubs that concluded those seasons at No. 7.
After guiding the Eagles to a 27-5 overall record and the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Skinner was named 2001 National Coach of the Year by Chevrolet/CBS, ESPN,Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He also earned BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Skinner earned BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year again in 2005 after leading Boston College to a 25-5 mark and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles accomplished something no Big East team had done before by starting the season 20–0. During the streak, the Eagles beat two ranked opponents and, were one of two teams (Illinois) in the country to begin the year 20-0. Following a win over No. 9 Syracuse in early February, the Eagles vaulted to No. 3 in both the AP and coaches' polls, marking the highest ranking for any Boston College basketball team.
Prior to his time at BC, Skinner spent nine seasons as head coach at Rhode Island, leading the Rams to a 138-126 (.523) mark. Skinner took over as head coach at URI in 1988 after serving as an assistant on the Rams' bench from 1984-88.
During his tenure in Kingston, he led Rhode Island to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths (1993 and 1997) and two more National Invitational Tournament (NIT) appearances (1992 and 1996), as well as three 20+ win seasons. He was named the Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year in 1991-92 and was inducted into the University of Rhode Island Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.
Skinner came to Kennesaw State after serving two seasons as associate head coach under longtime friend Tim O'Shea at Bryant University where the Bulldogs compiled a 34-29 (.540) overall record, including a 22-12 (.647) mark in the Northeast Conference. The two have a long history of sharing a bench as O'Shea spent 14 years as an assistant under Skinner at Rhode Island and Boston College.
Skinner first broke into coaching as an assistant at Marist College in 1982 following successful stints in the ABA and NBA from 1974-80 (Nets, Pistons, 76ers). Drafted by the ABA's New York Nets in the eighth round of the 1974 draft, Skinner was named to the 1974-75 ABA All-Rookie Team and led the Nets to an ABA Championship a year later.
Prior to his professional playing career, Skinner spent three years on the court at the University of Massachusetts from 1971-74, becoming the only player in Minuteman history to be named a three-time All-Yankee Conference selection.
A team captain and All-America Honorable Mention in 1973-74, Skinner remains one of the most decorated players in UMass basketball history, concluding his career with 1,235 points, 749 rebounds and 320 assists in 79 games. Skinner was inducted into the UMass Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982, and his No. 30 jersey was retired by the Minutemen on Feb. 18, 2004.
Skinner and his wife, Donna, have two grown children, Vaniecia and Andre.
Sessions in which Al Skinner participates
10:00 AM
10:00 AM
- PDS Ethics Clinic - NCAA Ethics Coalition Panel Discussion Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center - 221 AB
- 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM | 45 minutes
- The panelists will discuss ethical issues they have encountered while coaching, offer insight to their best practices and illustrate how to build a...