Almost as quickly as he came, Ohio State basketball assistant Tony Skinn is gone. The advanced scouting director on Chris Holtmann’s staff this past season, Skinn is expected to accept a similar position on Kevin Willard’s inaugural staff at Maryland.
This gives Ohio State a second vacancy on its staff, as offensive coordinator Ryan Pedon departed for the head coaching job at Illinois State shortly after the Buckeyes closed out their season. Jake Diebler is the last man standing, and as he prepares to slot into offensive coordinator duties, Ohio State will need a new defensive expert and a coach to take over for scouting and development.
Skinn’s early departure comes as no major surprise. Hired to replace Terry Johnson, who left Ohio State for an assistant position at Purdue, Skinn joined the staff in the 2021 offseason after three seasons working under Willard at Seton Hall.
He’s a Maryland native, played his college basketball at George Mason in Virginia and has made his name as a recruiting specialist on the East coast – which Holtmann mentioned specifically when he hired Skinn.
“Tony comes highly recommended from every level – NBA, college, AAU and high school,” Holtmann said last summer. “Tony was an outstanding player on a Final Four team, and as a professional. He has developed a reputation in his coaching career as being a tremendous worker, he’s detailed oriented, builds excellent relationships with players and is an outstanding recruiter. He has strong ties in the DC Metro area and has worked with some highly successful high school, AAU and college programs.”
Rumors have yet to surface regarding potential replacements for the two gaps on Ohio State’s staff, but Holtmann said after Pedon was announced as Illinois State’s next head coach that he had already fielded numerous calls from interested candidates.
“That’s what I’m doing right now is I’m getting a ton of calls, there’s a ton of interest for Ryan’s position,” Holtmann said in early March. “I’ve given it some thought, but it’ll be something that we’ll look at after the season.”