Skinner helped break the racial barrier by recruiting the first African American athlete to play varsity ball for a team in the Southeastern Conference.
With the support of Vanderbilt University chancellor G. Alexander Heard, he pursued the recruitment of African American players for the basketball team.
[3] Wallace recalled in a 2009 interview that Skinner practically lived at his house from the time he started trying to recruit him while he was a high school junior.
[4] Skinner led the team to the Elite Eight in the 1965 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament behind a 24–4 record that season, losing to the University of Michigan by two points.
[6] Skinner led the Commodores to a 278–135 record during his tenure, the most in school history until Kevin Stallings passed him during the 2013–14 season.