Ep. 428 (6/10/26): Special Guest - Pat Skerry, Towson University Men's Basketball Head Coach

In this episode, Joey has the privilege and honor of being joined by Pat Skerry, the head coach of Towson University men's basketball, who is a two-time CAA Coach of the Year and has led the Tigers to two CAA regular season titles. At the start of the episode, Coach Skerry talks about where his love for the game of basketball started as a Medford, MA native (1:33). He provides insight into his time as a point guard at Tufts University, where he is the all-time leader in career assists and is fifth all-time in career steals (2:41). During this segment, Coach Skerry points out a player who he used to model his game after (4:04) and how much of an honor it was to be a two-time captain for the Jumbos (5:04). Coach Skerry praises former Towson star forward Nick Timberlake for his impressive college basketball career (6:29). After that, he discusses how important it is to recruit in the Northeast (8:22) and the influence that legendary Tufts basketball coach Bob Sheldon left on him (9:32). In 1996, Coach Skerry was named the head coach at Curry College at just 26 years old, making him the second-youngest head coach in the country at the time. Skerry talks about how his experience at Curry propelled his coaching career (11:26). Additionally, Coach Skerry chats about his relationship with former Towson men's basketball assistant coach Luke Murray, who is now the head coach at Boston College (16:38). Then, they transition to highlighting Skerry's time at Towson, which includes the largest single-season turnaround in college basketball with the Tigers jumping from a 1-31 record to an 18-13 record within his first two years (20:44). Skerry reflects on the program's massive turnaround and how gratifying it was for the program to have its first winning season in 2012-13 since the 1995-96 season (23:17). Next, he reveals the challenges of the transfer portal era (26:27), the importance of building relationships and trust with his players (28:46), the values that the program promotes (30:55), and where his intensity and passion for the game come from (33:02). Furthermore, Coach Skerry breaks down how much it meant to receive the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award in 2023, which is given to a college basketball head coach who demonstrates strong moral character (35:20). During this part, Skerry converses about his role in Autism Speaks, which has brought autism awareness to college basketball and has led to him being honored as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game Service Award winner. He points out how much it has meant to him and Tom Herrion to see hundreds of coaches across the country wear blue puzzle piece pins in support of Autism Awareness (36:44). Moreover, Skerry explains how the electric environment at SECU Arena in Towson, MD led to the program having two large win streaks of 16 games and 18 games over the last four seasons (38:04). At the end, Skerry lists his expectations for Towson for the 2026-27 season (40:40) and his favorite restaurants in Medford (42:21).