March 30, 2023

HOUSTON, TX -- Towson’s Pat Skerry is the recipient of the 2023 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award, which is presented annually to a division I head coach who not only achieve success on the basketball court but displays moral integrity off the court as well.

In 12 seasons at the helm, Pat Skerry has turned Towson into a perennial contender in the Colonial Athletic Association. Eight times in a dozen years he has won 18 or more games, including this season in which the Tigers finished 21-12.

Skerry has been a consistent winner on the court and a bigger winner off the court.

“Pat Skerry hasn’t gotten nearly enough credit for the job he has done has a head coach, but he has gotten less attention for the work he has done with Autism Awareness,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of CollegeInsider.com. “He has won consistently at Towson, but his efforts off the court have made him a bigger winner. Pat Skerry is the genuine article.”

Skerry has used his platform as a head coach to start Autism Awareness in college basketball.  What started as two guys with an idea has turned into a national event where hundreds of coaches wear the prominent blue puzzle piece pin.

The effort put forth by Skerry was recognized as he was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game Service Award.

The Massachusetts native has also rebuilt the Tiger program in the classroom, with the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the CAA.

In 2022, Skerry led the Tigers to their first CAA Regular Season title, posting a 25-9, 15-3 CAA record. For his career, Skerry has won 193 games at Towson and has amassed 217 total victories in his career.

The Skip Prosser Man of the Year award is named in honor of the late Wake Forest and Xavier head coach. In six years with the Deacons, Prosser posted a 126-68 record. For his career, he was 291-146 in 14 seasons including six as the head coach at Xavier and one year at Loyola (Md.).

At Wake Forest, Prosser's teams averaged 21 wins per season while playing in arguably the nation's most difficult league, the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prosser won 100 games at an ACC school quicker than all but two coaches in the 55-year history of the conference. He coached NBA stars Chris Paul and Josh Howard, led the Demon Deacons to the first No. 1 national ranking in school history and earned ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2003.

Prosser passed away of an apparent heart attack on July 26, 2007, in his office at Wake Forest. He had just returned from his morning jog.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.

2022-23 SKIP PROSSER MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS

Note: Some of the content from the press release came directly from Towson University media releases.