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April 4, 2011

Well, damn.

Pittsburgh assistant Pat Skerry has been hired at Towson.

Sources told FOXSports.com that a news conference is scheduled for Tuesday.

Skerry, 41, replaces Pat Kennedy — who parted ways after a 4-26 campaign this past season.

Skerry is regarded as a relentless recruiter. He helped Providence land its backcourt of Gerard Coleman and Vincent Council and also was responsible for getting Jamie Dixon his highest-ranked player in Pittsburgh school history with the commitment of Canadian big man Khem Birch.

Good luck to Pat Skerry at Towson. But, damn. Would have like to have him stick around for another year. Towson will be a tough place for Skerry to build his head coaching resume.

Looks like Coach Dixon will be looking at options again for a new assistant. I’m extremely curious who is hired (or promoted and someone else hired below). One area I don’t think anyone can argue has been Coach Dixon’s track record with hiring assistants.

In the meantime, Coach Dixon beats Jay Wright once more. This time in a cook-off.





I would like to apply for the position….I want to be responsible for defense and strategy the last minute of all games….!

Comment by drgags 04.04.11 @ 10:42 am

Note that Dixon’s former top assistant, Barry Roehrsen, just got axed as Manhattan HC last month .. not sure if anyone picked him up yet

Comment by wbb 04.04.11 @ 10:43 am

another thought … would Antigua return if promoted to Asst HC? Would Dixon want him?

Comment by wbb 04.04.11 @ 11:24 am

Damn. Skerry was the one working all the top-level talent guys and the one given credit for Birch moving to Pitt over Providence. I hope we get another strong recruiter to replace him.

Comment by TampaT 04.04.11 @ 11:33 am

wbb – you beat me to the punch on Rohrssen. If I recall correctly, he had/has a very good reputation a a recruiter in NYC. I can’t see them going back to Antigua since they were apparently not all that pleased with him before.

Pitt is in the middle of several recruiting battles for 2012, so it will be interesting to see how this move affects those recruits.

Comment by Pantherman13 04.04.11 @ 11:36 am

Another former head coach who was mentioned last year is Dino Gaudio. I think he is still out of work…

Comment by Pantherman13 04.04.11 @ 11:38 am

Skerry did land Birch, but he’s an unusual case, as he hasn’t played basketball for very long despite freakish athleticism. He’s not the typical AAU phenom recruited by handlers/hustlers as soon as they can walk.

Comment by Ghost of Hornman 04.04.11 @ 11:53 am

Correct, Rohrssen is known for recruiting, especially in NYC, Pantherman13. It would be good to get him back for that. I just wonder if it would be another short stay on the way to another HC gig.

Really like what I see of Gaudio on ESPN. He seems to be a really good guy who knows his stuff. It might be hard to pry him away from there, because it looks like he enjoys what he’s doing and his role has gotten bigger as the season progressed. I also seem to remember him saying that coaching isn’t as glamorous as some think when some high-profile coaches were taking criticism for their teams’ performances. He might not miss it.

Comment by TampaT 04.04.11 @ 11:58 am

This seems a bit off, Skerry didn’t think he could get a better job than this? Or did he think this was going to be his high point? I would think a better job would be available in the next couple of years.

Of course we see what Rice did with the RMU job, though that was nowhere near the rebuilding job that Towson is.

Just seems off.

Comment by Rob 04.04.11 @ 12:02 pm

Hear what you’re saying, Ghost, but Skerry found Birch and kept him in his pocket when others started to take notice. Those might be the most important strengths we’ve lost.

Comment by TampaT 04.04.11 @ 12:03 pm

Forgot to add that I wish Skerry luck, appreciate his one year, just wish it would have been more. Hope to see Towson in the NCAAs in a few.

Comment by Rob 04.04.11 @ 12:03 pm

Rob, Can’t imagine there would be a big salary difference between Townson HC and Pitt top asst, but apparently being a HC is the goal .. as you noted, look what happened to Rice after only two years at RMU.

Comment by wbb 04.04.11 @ 12:12 pm

3 years at RMU

Comment by wbb 04.04.11 @ 12:15 pm

Is there are any risk that Birch de-commits now that Skerry is gone?

This does seem odd — didn’t even stay with the program a full yr. And Towson? Why not stay at Pitt 1-2 yrs to see if, with the new talent, we can get to the Final Four or better, then see where your stock is? I’m a little uneasy.

Comment by PantherP 04.04.11 @ 12:47 pm

How about hiring a former coach thats won at least one game in March?

Comment by Coach Ditka 04.04.11 @ 1:02 pm

Birch already signed. He’s not going anywhere.

Comment by Mike 04.04.11 @ 1:09 pm

Jeff Capel would be great if he could find another year of eligibility for Blake Griffin.

Comment by Pittastic 04.04.11 @ 1:20 pm

I’d love to hear what other realistic possible replacements are out there. Despite the success of Butler & VCU, I think we’ve always been one player short of NCAA tourney success. I know recruiting isn’t the only way to get that player, but I think it’d be impossible to think PITT (or any school for that matter) could develop players any better.

That one player, as an example, could be a PG who can shoot, dish and penetrate all season long (with all due respect to Wanamaker, he lost his confidence in his shooting; otherwise he might have been THAT guy). Or, a Gibbs who can create his own shot/drive to the hoop better. Or a McGee who can score. IMHO, It seems like, as good as the players have been, I’d love to see players who are less one dimensional come into the program. Although the players have always seemed to compliment one another, sometimes that seems like a nicer way of saying PITT has a lot of role players. They are often excellent at their role, and there aren’t many players who had glaring defensive weaknesses (Jamie just wouldn’t play them if they did), but very few players could be labeled as dynamic offensively on a consistent (sorry Gilbert) basis.

I know I sound like I’m asking for the next Kemba Walker, but I’m really not. I’d just like to see a starting 5 w/ two guys who can hit the three, two who can penetrate, two who can distribute, and two guys who can bang/rebound. That can be a total of 5 guys. They just need to be multifaceted. It sounds like Birch is, or at least will be, one of those guys.

I just hope the new hire can help PITT attract these kind of players so they don’t always seem to end up at Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, or some other team that makes me want to vomit. If those guys are one and done, I’m confident Jamie can maintain team cohesiveness. I’d love to see him get the chance.

Comment by stevie mac 04.04.11 @ 1:22 pm

Why hire Rohrssen? Did he ever recruit anyone who got drafted by the NBA? (Answer:NO) We need someone who can recruit that level of talent. Otherwise you never reach the final 4.

Comment by Walter Damian 04.04.11 @ 1:54 pm

Birch could go to prep school and be free to sign elsewhere after next year. His latest tweet doesn’t sound like he’s 100% coming to Pitt.

Comment by Fred 04.04.11 @ 4:42 pm

He also tweeted that he had a very good conversation with Coach Knight and is feeling better about the situation.

Comment by BnG 04.04.11 @ 7:14 pm

[…] week when Pat Skerry became the guy for Towson and Khem Birch was having his Twitter moment (and panicking the easily panicked), there was some […]


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