Roy Skinner
Roy Skinner (1930-2010)
Teams coached: Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt record: 278-135 (.673)
Overall record^: 278-135 (.673)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (1965, 1974)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 2 (1965, 1974)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- SEC Regular Season Champion: 2 (1965, 1974)
Awards:
- SEC Coach of the Year: 2 (1965, 1974)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1961-1976 | Vanderbilt |
| 1959-1961 | Vanderbilt (asst) |
| 1958-1959 | Vanderbilt |
| 1957-1958 | Vanderbilt (asst) |
| 1955-1957 | Paducah JC |
Roy Skinner Facts
- Roy Gene Skinner
- Born April 17, 1930
- Died October 25, 2010
- Hometown: Paducah, Kentucky
- Alma Mater: Presbyterian College (BA, 1952)
- Played at Paducah JC and then for head coaches Gene Lorendo and Norm Sloan at Presbyterian
- Started coaching at Paducah JC, serving two years as the head coach before leaving for Vanderbilt in 1957
- Hired by Bob Polk to be a Vandy assistant after his Paducah team beat the Commodore freshman squad the previous year
- Spent the 1958-59 season as acting head coach, going 16-10 in Polk’s absence
- Returned to assisting coaching under Polk for another two years before getting the head gig permanently
- Led the Commodores for a total of 16 seasons, accruing a 278-135 overall record at the helm
- Won two SEC titles (1965 & 1974), earning trips to the NCAA Tournament each season
- The 1965 SEC title and NCAA Tournament were both firsts for the Vanderbilt program
- Ranked as high as #2 in the AP Poll (1966) and had eight different teams reach AP Top-15 status
- Won two SEC titles (1965 & 1974), earning trips to the NCAA Tournament each season
- Integrated the SEC by recruiting and coaching Perry Wallace, the league’s first black player (started playing in 1967)
- Also scheduled games against Tennessee State, an HBCU, at a time where SEC teams did not play such games
- Retired from coaching in 1976 just before his 46th birthday; at that time, he had the most wins in program history
- Inducted into the Tennessee Sports HOF (c/o 1996) and the Vanderbilt Athletics HOF (c/o 2009)
- Survived by his third wife, Nathleene, as well as two daughters and three sons from his first marriage
Roy Skinner Coaching Tree
- Wayne Dobbs (Vanderbilt)
- Don Knodel (Rice)
- Jan van Breda Kolff (St. Bonaventure, Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, Cornell)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only
