How do you win a battle when defeat nears inevitability? Aim for the war.
Announcer Dick Vitale first dubbed legendary college coach Bobby Knight “The General” when Knight took over at Indiana in the early ’70s. His blend of tactical brilliance and loyalty, the fiery temper and military-like precision, elicited comparisons to Patton and Grant. An alternative approach indeed, but it constantly succeeded, even if the frontlines lay littered with broken chairs and soul-scarring obscenities afterward.
Two decades later, Pat Skerry (A ’92) began wearing the badge while attending Tufts. The Medford-born eldest of three sons led his brothers. He led his teams. He led his troops.
Skerry landed his first Div. I head coaching job last year at Towson, knowing full well that a steep climb lay ahead for the General and whatever soldiers stuck around at one of college basketball’s most despondent programs.
The nickname has disappeared over time, fading as he moved from college to college throughout the East coast, scaling the coaching ladder and advancing on his dream. Though men’s basketball coach Bob Sheldon and fellow Jumbos know Pat Skerry as “The General,” his Tigers know him as someone else, someone Skerry has envisioned himself becoming since high school, someone who will hoist Towson out of the cellar and into the national spotlight for the right reasons. They know him as Coach.
Read the full article at TuftsDaily.com
