Al Skinner facts for kids
Left to right: Al Skinner, Jack Leaman, and Julius Erving at the ceremony to retire Skinner's UMass jersey
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 16, 1952 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| High school | Malverne (Malverne, New York) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | UMass (1971–1974) |
| NBA Draft | 1974 / Round: 9 / Pick: 160th overall |
| Selected by the Boston Celtics | |
| Pro career | 1974–1981 |
| Coaching career | 1982–2019 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1974–1977 | New York/New Jersey Nets |
| 1977–1978 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1978–1979 | New Jersey Nets |
| 1979–1980 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1980–1981 | Joventut Badalona |
| As coach: | |
| 1982–1984 | Marist (assistant) |
| 1984–1988 | Rhode Island (assistant) |
| 1988–1997 | Rhode Island |
| 1997–2010 | Boston College |
| 2013–2015 | Bryant (assistant) |
| 2015–2019 | Kennesaw State |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
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Albert "Al" Lee Skinner Jr. was born on June 16, 1952. He is an American basketball coach and a former professional basketball player. He used to be the head coach for the Boston College Eagles men's basketball team. Later, he was an assistant coach at Bryant University before becoming the head coach at Kennesaw State University in 2015.
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Playing Career
College Basketball Star
Al Skinner played college basketball at the University of Massachusetts (UMass). When he was a freshman in 1970–71, a famous player named Julius Erving was on the varsity team. Al Skinner and Julius Erving later played together as professionals.
Skinner scored 1,235 points during his three years on the varsity team. He was the top rebounder for his team in all three of those years. In his junior and senior years, he also led the team in scoring. As a senior, he averaged 18.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. This is called a "double-double" because he had double-digit numbers in two categories. He also made the first "triple-double" in UMass history. This means he had double-digit numbers in three categories: 28 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists in one game!
He was chosen for the Yankee Conference First Team three times. He helped UMass win two Yankee Conference titles in a row in 1972–73 and 1973–74. His jersey number 30 was retired by UMass in 2004, which is a big honor.
Professional Basketball
The Boston Celtics picked Al Skinner in the 1974 NBA draft. However, he ended up playing for the New York Nets in the ABA. There, he played again with his former college teammate, Julius Erving. Together, they helped the Nets win the ABA championship in 1975–76.
During his professional career in the ABA and later the NBA, he played for the Nets, Detroit Pistons, and Philadelphia 76ers.
Coaching Career
Early Coaching Days
After his playing career, Al Skinner became a college basketball coach. He started as an assistant coach at Marist from 1982 to 1984. Then, he was an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island from 1984 to 1988.
In 1988, he became the head coach at the University of Rhode Island (URI). He coached the Rams for nine seasons. During this time, he won the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award in 1991–92. He also helped recruit players who later led the Rams to the "Elite Eight" in the 1998 NCAA tournament. His teams played in the NIT (National Invitation Tournament) twice and the NCAA Tournament twice. In 2000, he was added to URI's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Leading Boston College
On April 17, 1997, Al Skinner became the head coach for Boston College. The team had a tough start because many of their best players had left. But Skinner worked hard to rebuild the team.
In the 2000–01 season, he led Boston College to win the Big East regular season title. This was their first title in 18 years! They also won the Big East tournament and earned a high seed in the NCAA tournament. Because of this success, he was named Coach of the Year for the entire nation and for the Big East Conference.
In the 2004–05 season, his team made history by starting the season with 20 wins and no losses. They were ranked as high as #3 in the country! He was again named the Big East Coach of the Year.
The 2005–06 Boston College team had an amazing 28–8 record, which is the most wins in a single season for the school. They also reached the "Sweet 16" in the NCAA tournament. During this season, Skinner became the coach with the most wins in Boston College history. By 2010, he had led Boston College to seven NCAA Tournaments.
He left Boston College in 2010. He later said that he felt he ran a good program and that his players graduated.
Later Coaching Roles
In 2013, Skinner joined the coaching staff at Bryant University as an assistant coach. Then, in 2015, he became the head coach at Kennesaw State. He announced his resignation from Kennesaw State in February 2019, ending his coaching career there.
A Unique Game Story
Al Skinner was part of a very unusual event in NBA history. In the 1978–79 season, he was traded from the New Jersey Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers. This trade happened while the Nets were protesting a game they had played against the 76ers earlier. The Nets had won that game, but their coach received too many technical fouls, which was against the rules.
The league agreed with the Nets, so the game had to be replayed from the point where the mistake happened. By the time the game was finished months later, Skinner had been traded to the 76ers. This meant that when the game resumed, he was on the other team! He didn't play in either part of the game, but he was listed on the team sheets for both the Nets and the 76ers in the same game. This is a very rare event in basketball history!
See also
In Spanish: Al Skinner para niños
