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:

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
    • 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

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only