Nov. 20, 2013
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore athletic program is pleased to announce that its fifth featured Hall of Fame member to be spotlighted in 50 Shades of Maroon and Gray is Talvin Skinner. The spotlight on Skinner continues UMES' countdown to the 2014 Hall of Fame induction on Feb. 14. He is the fifth of 50 Hall of Fame members to be highlighted over the next three months.
Skinner put together one of the most decorated athletic careers of any player to ever don the maroon and gray. He has been inducted into the UMES Athletic Hall of Fame twice, first as a member of the 1973-74 UMES NIT team and then on his own in 2010. He was also inducted into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2002. It was because of Skinner's efforts that UMES went 27-2 in 1973-74 and became the first ever HBCU school to play in the NIT.
Playing under the tutelage of John Bates, Skinner was a two-time All-Conference selection in 1972-73 and 1973-74. The Berlin, Md., native was the leading rebounder for the 1973 NAIA Tournament, before being named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Most Outstanding Performer in 1974. In his senior year at UMES, Skinner scored 456 points and brought down 353 rebounds.
Due to his dominate collegiate career, Skinner received much interest to play professional basketball. The Seattle Supersonics selected him in the third round of the 1974 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. He was also drafted in the fifth round of the American Basketball Association (ABA) by the New York Nets that same year. The 6'5 forward spent two years with the Supersonics, playing in 145 games with an average of 4.6 points-per-game. Skinner blocked 17 shots with 49 steals and 344 boards as a rookie in 1974. In his final season with the Supersonics, he shot nearly 47-percent from the floor while bringing down nearly four rebounds a game.
Following his playing career, Skinner joined the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as an assistant coach and was on the bench to see the team secure the 2005 WNBA Championship.
Prior releases of "Fifty Shades of Maroon and Gray" (click link to open)
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