I feel like this hasn't really been discussed much, so I figure now is a decent time to share my thoughts....
I think it is pretty obvious to most here I knew Skinn was coming to College Park with Willard before anything was even close to official. It was kind of, lets say, always a dream of theirs that if Willard got the Maryland job, Skinn would join him as his right hand man. And that made a heck of a lot of sense. Skinn has all kinds of ties to Takeover and Nike, but is also very popular with the Baltimore/Under Armour crowd, having coached Daquan Bracey at Louisiana Tech and having a son that played for Team Thrill. And he was simply seen as a top young up and coming coach. He also got a lot of credit for helping Malaki Branham become a first round pick at OSU. And of course he was at Seton Hall, an UA school, with Willard. I said it at the time and I still believe it, but if Skinn doesn't get the Mason job, I'm fairly certain Queen is a Terp by now. You can say it is on the head coach, he needs to build the relationship, whatever, but at the end of the day, most kids commit to a school because of their relationship with an assistant versus the head coach. I'll also say this, I don't think anyone in a million years could have seen Skinn leaving to become a head coach after one season in College Park. So kudos to them for putting together a strong enough season and recruiting class in Year 1 to even get him the look to get that job. But losing him was a huge, huge blow.
But then you also have to factor in the loss of Billmeier, who had been with Willard for a lifetime compared to Skinn, having spent over a decade on Willard's staff in some form. On top of that, he had a reputation as a big-man whisperer. I don't think it is a coincidence we saw Reese really come on strong during the second half of last season under Billmeier's tutelage. But again, as if losing Skinn wasn't bad enough, it basically took a perfect storm to lose both Skinn AND Billmeier in the same offseason.
Everyone always wants to talk about the head coach, but I think most here know that a head coach is only as good as his assistants. And that isn't to say his current assistants aren't good, but he had a local rising star in Skinn and a top big man coach who had been with him pretty much throughout at Seton Hall and both are gone after one successful season. That's tough to replace and replicate, especially on such short notice.
I think it is pretty obvious to most here I knew Skinn was coming to College Park with Willard before anything was even close to official. It was kind of, lets say, always a dream of theirs that if Willard got the Maryland job, Skinn would join him as his right hand man. And that made a heck of a lot of sense. Skinn has all kinds of ties to Takeover and Nike, but is also very popular with the Baltimore/Under Armour crowd, having coached Daquan Bracey at Louisiana Tech and having a son that played for Team Thrill. And he was simply seen as a top young up and coming coach. He also got a lot of credit for helping Malaki Branham become a first round pick at OSU. And of course he was at Seton Hall, an UA school, with Willard. I said it at the time and I still believe it, but if Skinn doesn't get the Mason job, I'm fairly certain Queen is a Terp by now. You can say it is on the head coach, he needs to build the relationship, whatever, but at the end of the day, most kids commit to a school because of their relationship with an assistant versus the head coach. I'll also say this, I don't think anyone in a million years could have seen Skinn leaving to become a head coach after one season in College Park. So kudos to them for putting together a strong enough season and recruiting class in Year 1 to even get him the look to get that job. But losing him was a huge, huge blow.
But then you also have to factor in the loss of Billmeier, who had been with Willard for a lifetime compared to Skinn, having spent over a decade on Willard's staff in some form. On top of that, he had a reputation as a big-man whisperer. I don't think it is a coincidence we saw Reese really come on strong during the second half of last season under Billmeier's tutelage. But again, as if losing Skinn wasn't bad enough, it basically took a perfect storm to lose both Skinn AND Billmeier in the same offseason.
Everyone always wants to talk about the head coach, but I think most here know that a head coach is only as good as his assistants. And that isn't to say his current assistants aren't good, but he had a local rising star in Skinn and a top big man coach who had been with him pretty much throughout at Seton Hall and both are gone after one successful season. That's tough to replace and replicate, especially on such short notice.
