Head Coach Vernette Skeete

Texas Southern University Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Kevin Granger has named Vernette Skeete as the 13th head coach in program history, pending Board of Regents approval. Skeete comes to TSU from Texas A&M, where she served as the program's co-associate head coach.

A rising star in the collegiate ranks, Skeete has a wide variety of experience as a head coach, assistant coach and student-athlete at all levels from the power-five ranks to high school. Skeete most recently spent the 2021-22 season at Texas A&M under recently retired and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Gary Blair as the team’s co-associate head coach. Prior to Texas A&M, Skeete served as an assistant at Illinois for one season, six seasons as an assistant at Marquette and three seasons at the University at Miami.

Before arriving at Texas A&M, Skeete spent the 2020-21 season (2020-21) as a member of the Illinois women’s basketball staff under head coach Nancy Fahey. During her time with the Illini, five players earned Academic All-Big Ten honors. Skeete spent six seasons at Marquette and was crucial in the Golden Eagles’ rise to national prominence. The program experienced the most successful run in its history during her tenure, reaching as high as No. 8 in the AP Poll in 2019 - the highest ranking in program history. Skeete helped the team to three Big East Championships, including the 2017 tournament title as well as the 2018 and 2019 regular-season championships, also the first for the program.

From 2016-17 through the 2019-20 seasons, Marquette notched four consecutive 20-win seasons, including a program-record 27 victories in 2018-19. The Golden Eagles reached three straight NCAA Tournaments and were poised for an at-large bid again in 2020 prior to the tournament’s cancellation.

Skeete was vital 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 more than 8,000 combined points scored, making the Golden Eagles the only Division I program at the time with five 1,300-point scorers on the floor. Blockton (2018) and Natisha Hiedeman (2019) captured back-to-back Big East Player of the Year honors for MU.

Prior to Marquette, Skeete spent two seasons (2012-14) as the head coach at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Fla. She compiled a record of 49-13 and was named the 2012-13 NJCAA Region 8 Coach of the Year, Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year and Florida College System Activities Association Coach of the Year after leading her squad to the 2013 conference and region championships, and a fourth-place finish in the NJCAA National Tournament.

Skeete’s career at the Division I level began with three seasons (2009-12) at Miami (Florida), including one year as coordinator of basketball operations and two seasons as an assistant coach. During her tenure, the Hurricanes became a leader in the ACC, winning the 2010-11 league title. The program rose to a top-10 national ranking during the 2011-12 season and earned consecutive No. 3 seeds in the 2011 and 2012 NCAA Tournaments.

Before coaching at Miami, Skeete spent the 2008-09 season at Northwest Florida State College in Destin, Fla., as well as the previous five seasons with the Essence Girls Basketball Club Program, and the 2005-08 seasons at her alma mater, Malone (Florida) High School, where she was named MVP of the 2001 FHSAA State Championship as a senior.

Skeete began her collegiate playing career at Gulf Coast State where she led the Commodores to a 75-1 record, back-to-back conference and region titles, and the 2003 NJCAA National Championship. She went on to play two seasons at Alcorn State, helping the Braves to a SWAC championship and NCAA Tournament appearance as a senior, before earning her degree in psychology in 2005.