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Pat Skerry has Towson heading the right direction

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Of the 345 teams in Division I basketball, there aren’t many that look like they are in a worse position than Towson.

Pat Skerry’s club is coming off of a season where the 1-31 Tigers were the only team in the country that didn’t win at least two games. Robert Nwankwo (who averaged a double-double last season) is graduating. If that wasn’t bad enough, Towson is one of ten programs nationally that won’t be allowed to participate in postseason play this season due to their poor APR scores.

But, believe it or not, Towson looks like they are heading in the right direction.

Skerry has spent just 14 months on the job, but he’s already landed a very solid incoming class. In addition to the trio of Big East cast-offs he has getting eligible this season -- junior Jerelle Benimon (Georgetown), senior Bilal Dixon (Providence) and junior Mike Burwell (South Florida) -- Skerry landed a recruiting class that was ranked 12th amongst the non-BCS programs by CBSSports.com. That class is headlined by talented back court players Jerome Hairston and Frank Mason.

And now, Towson is throwing Four McGlynn into the mix. McGlynn is the reigning America East Freshman of the Year, but opted to leave Vermont to transfer closer to his family in York, PA. (Interestingly enough, Skerry will not be applying for a waiver to get McGlynn eligible immediately. The waiver would have had a decent chance to go through given the circumstances, which makes you wonder what, exactly, the reason is.)

The rebuilding of Towson is still a ways from completion, but with Skerry’s recruiting chops and the talent that has already been brought into the program, the Tigers are currently ahead of the curve. With Old Dominion and VCU leaving the CAA, it may not be that long before Towson is competing with George Mason and Drexel (and Davidson and the College of Charleston?) for league titles.

Which means it may not be long before Skerry has a job in a bigger conference.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.