George Mason University Athletics

One of the rising stars in college basketball coaching, former George Mason standout guard Tony Skinn ('06) was named the 12^th head coach in the men's basketball program's history in April 2023.
 
A key starter on the 2006 George Mason Final Four team and one of the best all-around guards in program history, Skinn returned to his alma mater after nearly a decade of work as a collegiate assistant coach.  

The 2025 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Skinn has put together arguably the best start to a coaching career in school history. He's set new program bests for overall wins (47), league wins (24), overall winning percentage (.691) and league winning percentage (.667) for a Patriot coach over his first two campaigns. What's more, Skinn's 66.7 A-10 winning percentage is first amongst active league coaches over their first two seasons in the conference. 

This season, Skinn guided the Patriots to the best season in the program's A-10 history. The Patriots earned a share of their first-ever A-10 regular season title, tallied the program's first NIT victory since 2004 and notched a school record-tying 27 overall victories. The Green & Gold set a new school record for Atlantic 10 league victories (15) and started league play 12-1 for the first time in the program's 59-year history. The Patriots locked up a double bye in the A-10 Tournament for the first time and reached a conference title game for the first time since 2009.
 
George Mason tallied a school-record 18 home victories in 2024-25. The Patriots also swept their A-10 home schedule (9-0) for the first time ever and won five-straight A-10 road games for the first time in program annals. The team's 11-game win streak from Jan. 8-Feb. 18 was the second longest in the nation at the time and was just the fourth 10+ game winning streak in school history.
 
 Skinn was named a national finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, given to the nation's top minority head coach, and the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, which recognizes the Div. I head coach who wins with integrity both on and off the court. He also garnered VaSID Virginia Coach of the Year accolades at the conclusion of the Patriots' historic season.

George Mason's elite Patriot Pressure defense ranked in the top-25 nationally in 2024-25 and the Patriots ranked third in the country in field goal defense. The team's cumulative FG defense marked a Mason school record while its 3pt defense was second best all time.
 
Skinn has been instrumental in the development of dynamic players who have brought his Patriot Pressure vision to life. Senior Jared Billups became George Mason's first conference Defensive Player of the Year since 2001 and was a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Award, given to the nation's top defensive player.
 
Jalen Haynes earned NABC All-District First Team honors and was just the second All-A-10 First Team pick in school history. What's more, Darius Maddox earned NABC All-District Second Team accolades and a position on the All-A-10 Third Team. Both Haynes and Maddox garnered A-10 All-Tournament accolades after shining on the national stage in DC this March.

In his first season guiding the Patriots in 2023-24, Skinn led George Mason to 20 regular season (pre-conference tournament) wins for the first time since 2011-12 and a top-100 NET/KenPom ranking for the first time since 2010-11. Those 20 wins ranked fifth-most amongst first-time head coach-led programs in the nation and were tied for the second-most in school history by a first-year Mason head coach.
 
George Mason's 13-2 start matched the 1983-84 team for the best in program history and is the top start by a first-year Mason bench boss. The Patriots tallied 11 non-conference wins for just the second time in the past 40 campaigns, and the team's non-conference winning percentage (.846) was tops in the nation for a program led by a first-time head coach.
 
The Patriots earned four top-100 NET victories and defeated two teams which qualified for the NCAA Tournament (Dayton, South Dakota State). George Mason's win over #16 Dayton was its first ever over a ranked foe at home and also marked the highest-ranked win by a Patriot program in regular season history.
 
Skinn proved instrumental in the development of a number of key players on the Patriot roster. Keyshawn Hall put together a breakout season while earning First Team NABC All-District honors and freshman Baraka Okojie earned a spot on the A-10 All-Rookie Team.
 
In addition, senior guard Darius Maddox (14.0 ppg vs. 8.5 ppg) and graduate forward Amari Kelly (12.2 ppg, 7.8 ppg) significantly increased their production in their first season playing for the Patriots.

In recognition of his outstanding inaugural campaign with the Green & Gold,  Skinn was named a finalist for the 2024 Joe B. Hall Award, presented annually to the top rookie, first-year men's basketball Division I head coach.
 
Prior to becoming the head coach of his alma mater, Skinn guided three different programs to the NCAA Tournament as an assistant. He was a part of six 20+ win campaigns and established himself as a stout recruiter both within the talent-rich DMV and across the country. 
 
Most recently, Skinn served on Kevin Willard's staff at the University of Maryland, where in 2022-23, he helped lead the Terps to a 22-13 record and an NCAA Tournament victory over West Virginia.  
 
Prior to Maryland, Skinn served with Chris Holtmann at Ohio State in 2021-22. During his time with the Buckeyes, he worked closely with Big Ten Freshman of the Year Malaki Branham. Branham averaged 13.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting over 49 percent from the floor. He was one of just five freshmen nationally and one of only two from a Power 5 school to have multiple 30-point games this season, and both of his came on the road. Skinn was also in charge of scouting personnel in Columbus. 

Skinn and the Buckeyes won 20 games and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. 

In his three seasons at Seton Hall, Skinn coached the guards and helped Quincy McKnight become one of the best point guards in the Big East. He also played an influential role in the development of 2020 BIG EAST Player of the Year Myles Powell. Skinn was part of the Pirates' program-record fourth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019. The Pirates also won a BIG EAST regular-season title in 2020 and were on track for another NCAA Tournament bid prior to the COVID-19 cancellation. 

Prior to joining Seton Hall, Skinn had a successful three-year run as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech, as the Bulldogs won 63 games during his tenure, including back-to-back 23-win seasons and a pair of top-four finishes in Conference USA. In three seasons with Skinn's aid, Louisiana Tech student-athletes garnered five All-Conference USA selections and three Conference USA All-Freshmen picks. Skinn was instrumental in the development of point guard DaQuan Bracey, who set a Louisiana Tech and Conference USA record for most assists by a rookie (193) in 2016-17 en route to Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors. Bracey also finished the season with the sixth-best assist/turnover ratio in the country at 3.51.

Skinn worked in the DMV area for four years prior to his collegiate coaching start. He served as the director of athletics at the Paul International High School in Washington, D.C., and was an assistant coach for NIKE Team Takeover, one of the premier AAU programs in the country. While working for NIKE Team Takeover, he helped recruit and develop student-athletes who went on to earn Division I college scholarships.

A native of Hyattsville, Md. and Washington, D.C., Skinn stayed close to home to star for the Patriots from 2003-06. A two-time All-CAA selection, Skinn scored 1,079 career points while starting 68 games in his George Mason career. He averaged 14.4 points as a junior before putting together an outstanding senior campaign in 2005-06. During that magical season, he ranked fifth in the CAA in steals/game (1.6) while notching 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists/contest. His nine steals against Northeastern on Jan. 19, 2006, set a George Mason and CAA conference record that still stands today.

During the historic run to the Final Four, Skinn averaged 11.3 points over five tournament contests and shot 35 percent from 3pt range while leading the Patriots to the national semifinals. Skinn notched 10+ points in three of the four contests he played, including a 14-point, 4-assist performance against Wichita State in the Sweet 16 and a 13-point effort against Florida in the national semifinal. The first modern Cinderella in NCAA Tournament lore, Skinn and his teammates advanced to Indianapolis as a No. 11 seed while generating an estimated $677 million in free advertising for the university during the three-week run.

After making history with the Patriots, Skinn went on to play professionally in Europe for many years, including three in France. In 2012, he was a member of the Nigerian national team that qualified for the Olympics in London by finishing third at the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caracas, Venezuela. He averaged 10 points a game during the tournament as Nigeria upset Greece in the quarterfinals, lost to Russia in the semifinals but then topped the Dominican Republic to earn the final Olympic qualifying berth. In London, Skinn and Nigeria won their first Olympic preliminary round game, defeating Tunisia, 60-56, before finishing 10th in the tournament.

Tony and his wife, Weyni, have three children, Isaiah, Liam and Noelle.