Men’s basketball: Panthers hire new assistant coach Skerry

The Pitt men’s basketball team filled its coaching staff when it announced the hiring… The Pitt men’s basketball team filled its coaching staff when it announced the hiring of assistant coach Pat Skerry on Friday.

Skerry has 19 years of coaching experience. He most recently worked as an assistant at Providence College for three years. He previously coached at Rhode Island University, where he was named one of the top assistant coaches in the country by online publication Hoop Scoop.

“We are excited about Pat becoming a member of the University community, and I know he is ecstatic to be coming to Pittsburgh,” head coach Jamie Dixon said in a press release. “He will help us in recruiting, scouting and player development. We are fortunate to have a coach with his well-rounded and vast background, along with an individual who has previous head coaching experience.”

In 1996 he was appointed head coach at Curry College in Massachusetts when he was just 26 years old, making him the second youngest coach in college basketball at the time.

“It was really good because you just kind of get thrown into the fire, and you got to figure some things out,” Skerry said. “It was a great learning experience for me.”

Before working at Rhode Island, he was an assistant at the College of Charleston under coach Tom Herrion, whose departure from Pitt’s program this spring left an opening for Skerry.

A Medford, Mass., native, a former coach at Northeastern and a Tufts University graduate, where he set a single season record for assists, Skerry has numerous recruiting ties in the New England area.

His 2006 recruiting class was ranked No. 24 by Hoop Scoop

Serving on Providence’s staff for three years, Skerry is more than familiar with the Panthers’ program. He has high praise for the team he is soon to work with.

“They’re just solid top to bottom: scout well, defend well, play hard, good chemistry  — what you a want a program to become,” Skerry said.