TOWSON, Md. - When Towson University hired Pat Skerry to run its basketball program on April 5, it was a process that started back when Coach Skerry was in the seventh grade.

“I actually started out as a hockey player," Coach Skerry recalls. "Several of the guys I played with went on to the NHL." 

Coach Skerry then found a new love - basketball. Coming out of high school, Pat ended up at Tufts University. He played four years for the Jumbos and amassed 650 career assists as a point guard. This is where the coaching bug started to bite.

The point guard is much like a coach on the floor and Coach Skerry soon found himself as a graduate assistant after his playing career was over. This was a little different than most of his classmates who went on to be doctors, lawyers and  work in other professional careers. Working under Coach Bob Sheldon at Tufts, Pat learned a little of everything.  “I coached, I recruited, I worked in the equipment room,” he says. "It was a great learning experience.”

At this point he knew what he wanted to do for a career. At age 26, he was hired as the head coach at Curry College in Milton, Mass.  For the Medford, Mass. native, it was more than just coaching much like his job at Tufts. “I did it all at Curry," Coach Skerry says. "From recruiting to cleaning the court. But I loved every minute.” 

After spending a couple of years as the head man at Curry, Coach Skerry “took the leap into the rat race.” The rat race he speaks of  is Division I basketball. 

Pat got his first Division I job in Boston at Northeastern University in 1998. At the time, the Huskies were in the America East Conference as were the Tigers. “To show how things come full circle, I was an assistant for Rudy Keeler at Northeastern and Towson's head coach at the time Mike Jaskulski had also been an assistant under Coach Keeler,” Coach Skerry explains.

In talking to Coach Skerry, he says he learned many defensive principles from Coach Keeler. I remember when Coach Jaz was here at Towson and he told me the same thing about Keeler, who he worked under at the University of Maine.

From Northeastern, he spent three years at William and Mary from 2000-2003. So, it's safe to say Coach knows how much tougher the CAA has gotten in the last decade. “When I was in the A-10, I could see how much the CAA has improved,” says Coach Skerry. 

At William and Mary under Coach Rick Boyages, Coach Skerry started to get the reputation as a first class recruiter. He says, “we recruited a couple of kids out of the Boston area that went on to have great careers at William and Mary.” 

Through his travels at all of his stops, he became good friends with Coach Tom Herrion, which led to Pat going to the College of Charleston where he worked under Coach Herrion. The relationship between the two would lead to bigger things in Coach Skerry's future.

One thing many never think about with coaches is the affect the lifestyle has on their families. As you can see, Coach Skerry was moving every couple of years. But he says he is one of the lucky ones. 

“My wife Kristen has been a great partner with me through all the moves," Coach Skerry explains. "She was able to do grad work at William and Mary and we both loved Charleston which is somewhere we have talked about living when we retire.” 

There is nothing wrong with that; I know I loved going to Charleston when Towson was in the Big South and we would take the annual trek to play Charleston Southern. I would recommend a trip to Charleston to everyone. But, I digress.

Coach Skerry spent the next five years from 2005-2010 back in New England working at Rhode Island and Providence.  His recruiting reputation continued to grow at both schools where he worked under Jim Baron at Rhode Island and Keno Davis at Providence.

Then, Coach Herrion reappeared in the Coach Skerry story. He was up at the University of Pittsburgh as an assistant to Jamie Dixon where he helped to get Coach Skerry on board.

“Working at a program that was top ten was a great experience," Coach Skerry says. "From Coach Dixon, I learned how to run a complete program with consistency. It was a great experience.”

Well, his time at Pitt was short-lived, which is good news for us here at Towson. 

Coach Skerry hasn't been around long, but his enthusiasm in our phone conversation was great to hear.

Through all his stops, he took a little from each of the men he coached for. So, will he do things differently than he did 15 years ago as a head coach at Curry College?

“I have really learned from all the men I have worked for," he says. "I think that will help in how I deal with my staff and players. I know that we will play tough defense and get our guys to grow from year to year."

Who would have thought that this former seventh grade hockey player would grow to become one of the best basketball recruiters in the nation, and work for some of the brightest minds in college basketball. Hockey's loss has become Towson's gain. I think we are all going to be very happy about that.