Vernette Skeete - Women's Basketball Coach - Marquette University Athletics

Vernette Skeete

Title :
Assistant Coach
E-Mail:
vernette.skeete@marquette.edu
Phone:
288-5784
Experience :
Sixth Season
Alma Mater:
Alcorn State, 2005

The 2019-20 campaign will mark the sixth season for Vernette Skeete as an assistant coach of the Marquette women’s basketball team, remaining on the sidelines with head coach Megan Duffy.

“Vernette Skeete brings a wide range of experience both as a head coach and as an assistant,” Duffy said. “She has been successful wherever she has been and brings a competitive spirit both on the off the court. Her infectious personality and commitment to our student-athletes shines bright each and every day. Coach Skeete knows what it takes to get players to an elite level and her track record of success with some of our most prominent players in program history speaks for itself. She has done a great job bringing the best of the best to Marquette.”

Skeete was instrumental in the development of one of the most successful classes in Marquette history as Allazia Blockton, Sandra Dahling, Erika Davenport, Natisha Hiedeman, Danielle King and Amani Wilborn graduated with over 8,000 combined points scored, while the Golden Eagles were the only program in Division I with five, 1,300-point scorers on the floor.

The Golden Eagles turned into a national name under Skeete’s tutelage as Marquette was ranked as high as No. 8 in the AP Poll in 2019, which was the highest ranking in program history. Marquette won three BIG EAST Championships; a 2017 BIG EAST Tournament title and a 2018 and 2019 regular season crown for the first time in school history. The Golden Eagles totaled three 20-win seasons from the 2016-17 through the 2018-19 seasons, culminating in a program-record 27 victories in 2018-19. Marquette earned three straight NCAA Tournament with two No. 5 seeds, the highest seed in MU program history.

Skeete coached two consecutive BIG EAST Players of the Year in Allazia Blockton (2018) and Natisha Hiedeman (2019) and seven first and second team All-BIG EAST members over the past four years.

Off the court, Blockton earned back-to-back BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete Awards and was a second team Senior CLASS finalist.

Blockton and Hiedeman earned WBCA All-American honorable mention accolades with Blockton becoming the first Marquette player in program history to earn the honor in three straight seasons.

Prior to Marquette, Skeete was the head coach at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Fla. The 2012-13 NJCAA Region 8 Coach of the Year and Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year led the program to a 50-13 record through two seasons and won a state championship in 2013. Gulf Coast State College reached the NJCAA Final Four and played to a NJCAA National Tournament fourth place finish and Skeete was also tabbed as FCSAA Coach of the Year in 2012-13.

Skeete spent three years at the University of Miami as coordinator of basketball operations and two seasons as assistant coach. During her tenure the Hurricanes became a leader in the Atlantic Coast Conference, winning the league title in the 2010-11 season and retaining at Top-25 national ranking. The Hurricanes rose to a top-10 ranking in the 2011-12 season and earned consecutive No. 3 seeds in the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and 2012.

Prior to Miami, Skeete spent the 2008-09 season at Northwest Florida State College in Destin, Fla., as well as five seasons with the Essence Girls Basketball Club program. During her 2005-08 seasons at Malone High School, she brought the program back to former glory by returning them to the state final again in 2006-2007.

Skeete was also the MVP of the 2001 FHSAA State Championship as a player at Malone, the first-ever in the history of Malone girls' basketball.

As a player at Gulf Coast State she led her squad to a NJCAA National Championship from 2001-2003 and led Alcorn State to a SWAC conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005.

Skeete graduated from Alcorn State University in 2005 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and lives in Milwaukee with her fiancée Dee Hollingsworth and their daughter Dihya Dior, who was born December 2018.