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Kennesaw State hires former Boston College head coach Al Skinner

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Al Skinner has been hired by Kennesaw State, Doug Roberson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Sunday afternoon.

Skinner, who has served as an assistant coach at Bryant since 2013, spent 13 seasons as the head coach at Boston College, winning 247 games and taking the Eagles to the NCAA tournament seven times. He made two previous trips to the tournament at Rhode Island, where he spent nine years.

While Skinner has a successful track record as a coach, it all came in the northeast, beginning his career as an assistant at Marist before stops at URI, BC and most recently, Bryant. His first priority will be to retain or hire assistants with ties to the Atlanta area.

There are connections between Skinner and Kennesaw State athletic director Vaughn Williams. The two both attended UMass, although their times in Amherst were separated by several decades. Williams went on to receive a Master’s Degree from Boston College in 2002, Skinner’s fifth year at Chestnut Hill.

Skinner will become the third coach the Kennesaw State program has had since 2013. Lewis Preston, who took a leave of absence during the 2013-14 season, was relieved of his duties in March 2014. Jimmy Lallathin was let go last month, after his first season as head coach.

He will be taking over a team that went 10-22 (4-10 Atlantic Sun) this past season, finishing second-to-last in the conference. The Owls program has lost 20 or more games in each of the last six seasons.

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