Guest abovetherim Posted May 12, 2008 Report Posted May 12, 2008 By Shawn Wansley JCJC Sports Information Director ELLISVILLE - Someone very familiar with Jones County Junior College has been tabbed to lead the men's basketball program. The school’s Board of Trustees approved Don Skelton, who was an assistant coach under Marc Dukes at JCJC from 1988-90, Friday morning as the school’s new head coach. He replaces Kyle Roane, who resigned earlier this week to become an assistant coach at Jacksonville State. “I am proud to be here,†said Skelton, during an afternoon press conference in the C.L. Neill Media Center. “It is a real comfortable deal for me to come here, compared to a lot of places, because I know a lot of these faces that are in here. They have been good friends to me. “It’s kind of like coming home for me.†In fact, Skelton is married to the former Tammy Pryor of Ellisville and they have one son, Trey. “Ellisville is not my home, but it’s my wife’s home,†said Skelton, who comes to Jones after serving as an assistant coach at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, the past two years. “So, in a way it is my home. I look forward to trying to do as good as I can here and I want to make this a long-term relationship. I have no thoughts of going anywhere else and this is where I want my son to grow up.†JCJC School President Dr. Jesse Smith is thrilled to have Skelton on board. “Coach Skelton has been very successful in the Mississippi two-year league,†he said. “He worked here under Coach Dukes and he won, he coached at Southwest and he won and he coached at Northwest and he won. Plain and simple, he’s just a winner. “It’s only fitting his wife and family are from this area. He wants to be where he can have the best of both worlds.†Athletic director Katie Herrington was the JCJC women’s head coach back when Skelton was an assistant. “It’s a privilege for me to welcome Coach Skelton to our staff,†she said. “I had the privilege of working with him almost 20 years ago and got to know him as a man and as a good guy to work with. He is a hard worker. “Since he left here, he has been very successful in the junior college ranks. If you look at his resume it says ‘Championships’ and ‘Coach of the Year’ one year right after the other. We know we got the right guy.†Skelton hopes to get started on the job as soon as possible. He said he respects the job Roane did at Jones and knows the program is in sound shape. “I’ve known Kyle for a good while,†said Skelton. “He is a really good coach and a really good person. I’m replacing a guy I respect and like. Coming into this situation, I feel like he is about to get this thing on the right track. He has done a good job of recruiting.†Skelton also said he looks forward to working with assistant coach Casey Carter. “Kyle really brags on Casey and I’m really looking forward to working with him,†he said. “I am really excited about this situation and I look forward to trying to build this thing into a championship-type program.†Skelton’s familiarity with the MACJC should also be a plus when he gets started at JCJC. “It definitely helps,†he said. “Knowing Mississippi rules and the set-up of how you recruit in districts and statewide, that is something you need to know. If not, you will have to figure it out real quick when you come into this league. I feel comfortable with that. “To tell you the truth, even with our opponents and our rivals, I have good relationships with all of those coaches. Certainly, we want to beat those guys, but I have a lot of good friends in this league.†Skelton’s teams in the past have been noted for a fast-break type of offense and man-to-man defense. Look for the same thing to happen at JCJC. “I think I’ve figured out in the Mississippi juco league, you are not always going to get the 6-7, 6-8, 6-9 guy,†he said. “I have not really based my teams off of that, even the good teams we had at Northwest. We are going to play up-tempo. We are going to play a lot of pressing type of defenses. “We are going to try and push the ball if at all possible. In Mississippi, you have a lot of 6-3 and 6-5-type of athletes and you have to revolve your team around that. We will be a man-to-man defensive team that presses and plays full court.†Recruiting will be a key for Skelton’s success at Jones. Again, his experience in the state should be a boost when it comes to recruiting. “I still have a lot of contacts around the state,†he said. “Coach Roane and Coach Carter have done a good job for us. We have got to fill a couple of out-of-state slots, so I think we are in pretty good shape. “But, the main thing in the Mississippi junior college league is to do as good of a job as you can in your local area. We want to have a good relationship with our local coaches. We are going to be very visible with them.†Skelton stressed Bobcat basketball players will be held accountable in the classroom, as well as on the court. “In junior college you tell these kids, not only are you going to watch over them, but you are going to make sure they do what they are supposed to do,†he said. “They start learning responsibility at this level and they start learning they cannot go to the four-year level until they do what they are supposed to do in the classroom. “It’s a major adjustment from high school and we will stress academics. Coach Carter and I will stay on top of them.†Skelton’s team this past season at Lamar posted a 19-11 mark and tied for the Southland Conference regular season crown. Skelton has posted some sterling numbers as a head basketball coach. At Northwest, he was head coach from 1999-2006 and led the Rangers to five trips to the NJCAA Nationals in Hutchinson, Kan. He compiled a 198-56 (.779) record and led Northwest to five Region 23 titles, five District 16 titles, two MACJC state titles and five MACJC North Division championships. He was head coach at Southwest from 1997-99, leading the Bears to a 22-9 record and a berth in the state and regional tournament in 1997-98. He was head basketball and head baseball coach at Lafayette County High School in Oxford in 1990-91. He has compiled a 322-161 (.667) overall record as a head coach. Skelton, a native of Leland, was a four-year letterman at Mississippi College and played in every game during his career with the Choctaws. He was third in the Gulf South Conference in assists as a senior and was an Academic All-Gulf South Conference selection in 1986 and 1987. Skelton hopes to bring the kind of success he has enjoyed at previous stops, especially at Northwest, to Jones. “The Northwest days were good to me,†he said. “Obviously, we had some talent in that local area and we were able to supplement that with some out-of-state guys. It just went hand in hand for us, especially with our style of play. “If we can come somewhere near that here, I will be very pleased. I think there is a chance for us to do it. We are going to have to do a really good job of recruiting and we will have to get guys to fit our system. At the same time, we have to get them to buy into what we are doing. We want them to be unselfish and give up something of their game to make the team successful.†http://www.jcjc.edu/news/upload/fullnews.php?id=515
Guest mffl Posted May 12, 2008 Report Posted May 12, 2008 I hope he does well and gets some other great Mississippi players to Lamar.
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