Tony Oludewa Skinn (born February 8, 1983) is a NigerianAmerican
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
coach and former player. He played
guard
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Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
for the
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
Patriots from 2003–2006, later playing professionally for six years. Skinn is currently an assistant coach for the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
men's basketball team. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Skinn migrated with his family to the United States at the age of two.
College career
In his senior season, Skinn averaged 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. The season was marked by the Patriots' surprising run to the Final Four. He scored a season-high 23 points and hit the game-winning three-point shot with 10.8 seconds left, in GMU's
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
BracketBusters Bracket buster, as a generic phrase, refers to an American college basketball team, usually from a so-called mid-major school, which upsets a highly ranked team in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and to a lesser extent, the NCAA Div ...
game against
Wichita State
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
on February 18, 2006, ultimately landing the Patriots in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 for the first time in school history. The Patriots posted a 23-7 record during the regular season, and while they did not win the 2006 CAA men's basketball tournament title, they were awarded the program's first at-large bid as an 11 seed.
In GMU's run to the Final Four, Skinn scored eight points against defending champion
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
in the second round, 14 points in a rematch against Wichita State in the Sweet Sixteen, 10 points against top-seeded UConn in the
Elite Eight
In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...
, and 14 points against eventual back-to-back tournament winners Florida Gators.
After GMU's Elite Eight victory, Skinn told reporters that Coach
Jim Larranaga
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fired up his players by telling them that UConn's players did not even know what conference the Patriots came from. "That's a little bit of disrespect," Skinn recounted. "Coach told us the
CAA
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* Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India
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stands for the 'Connecticut Assassin Association'."
Professional career
In 2006, Skinn signed a contract to play with the Croatian club Split, of the
Adriatic League
The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...
, after he wasn't drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft.
In July 2007, Skinn was invited to play for the
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
at the
Orlando Summer League
The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...
. In July 2008, he signed with Gravelines Dunkerque Basket in the French Pro A league, recording team-highs of 16.6 points per game, 3.8 assists per game, and shooting 43% from 3PT range.
On August 5, 2009, he signed with
Pistoia Basket
A.S. Pistoia Basket 2000, known for sponsorship reasons as OriOra Pistoia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Pistoia, Tuscany.
History
The city of Pistoia was formerly represented in the first division LBA by Olimpia Basket Pist ...
Ironi Ashkelon
Elitzur Ashkelon ( he, אליצור אשקלון) was a professional basketball team based in Ashkelon in south-west Israel. The team reached the quarterfinals of the EuroCup Challenge in 2006Israeli League.
Nigerian national team
On July 8, 2012, the
Nigerian national basketball team
The Nigeria national basketball team represents Nigeria in men's international basketball and it is overseen by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).
In March 2021, the global governing body FIBA ranked Nigeria as Africa's top men's basket ...
defeated the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
, to earn the last spot in the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. As the starting
point guard
The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...
for the team, Skinn averaged 10.0 points per game in the FIBA Olympic qualifiers. In the game against the United States national team, Nigeria lost the game by 83 points, 156-73. It was the largest deficit by a losing team and a new Olympic record for most points scored in a game by the United States. While the Nigerian national team's performance was less than favorable, Skinn was the catalyst for arguably the most memorable highlight during the 2012 Olympic tournament against the United States' guard
James Harden
James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...
.
Coaching career
Seton Hall
After spending three seasons as an assistant coach for the
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball program, nicknamed the Dunkin' Dogs, represents intercollegiate men's basketball at Louisiana Tech University. The program competes in Conference USA in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...
team, Skinn was hired by
Kevin Willard
Kevin Schreiber Willard (born April 6, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Willard played basketball at Western Kentucky during the 1992–93 season (his freshm ...
On May 20, 2021, after spending three seasons at Seton Hall, Skinn was hired as an assistant coach at Ohio State, replacing Terry Johnson.
Maryland
On March 23, 2022 Skinn was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland reuniting him with Kevin Willard for whom he served under as an assistant previously with at Seton Hall.
https://247sports.com/college/ohio-state/Article/Tony-Skinn-leaves-Ohio-State-basketball-to-become-assistant-coach-at-Maryland-Terrapins-184916216/