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Skillings continues to shine as Roman secures top-four spot

02/08/2022, 1:15am EST
By Matthew Ryan

Matthew Ryan (@matthewryan02)

The sequence was a perfect example of how dominant Daniel Skillings’ season has been.

With under a minute to go in the third quarter and Roman Catholic leading La Salle by eight, Skillings caught a pass at the top of the key, pump-faked and drove to the basket, using a spin move to free himself for a layup.


Daniel Skillings (above) is one of the favorites for PCL MVP as a senior. (Photo: Matthew Ryan/CoBL)

As La Salle was inbounding the ball under its own basket, Skillings perfectly anticipated the pass, fully extending for the steal, looking more like a wideout than a basketball player. After he passed out to a teammate, he got the ball back, pump-faked, and blew past his defender to the basket for a layup, giving the Cahillites a 12-point lead.

It was a three-part series that showed why the 6-foot-6 wing is not only the frontrunner for the Philadelphia Catholic League MVP award but also has his squad in a prime position entering the PCL playoffs.

“First and foremost, I want to get a PCL championship with my team and just get wins with my team,” Skillings said. “And whatever accolades and accomplishments that come with it, I’m all for it. But if I end up getting (the MVP), that’s great, but I’m really focused on the PCL championship and that’s all that matters.”

The two layups were four of Skillings’ 19 points on the night as he led Roman past the Explorers, 63-52. To go along with his scoring total, Skillings added seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. It was a night on par with the rest of his season as the senior entered Monday’s contest averaging 19.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and over a steal and a block per game.

While Skillings’ numbers are quite similar to a season ago, a lot has changed since his first year in the PCL. Skillings arrived at Roman last season after starting his high school career at Highland Regional High School (N.J.) and then transferring to St. Joe’s-Hammonton (N.J.) for his sophomore year. 

Now with a full season of film on Skillings, he’s no longer a surprise to the rest of the league like he was last season. Coming off his strong junior campaign, Skilling not only blew up on the local scene but has also garnered national attention. And over the past year or so, he has seen himself skyrocket into a high-major player, eventually committing to Cincinnati.

During that stretch, Skillings got the opportunity to not only work out with his trainer, Ken Jackson, but also learn from people who know a thing or two about playing at the next level. Most notably, Skillings worked with current Atlanta Hawks starter and Friends’ Central alumni De’Andre Hunter, and Amile Jefferson, who also played at FCS before going to Duke and eventually having a brief stint in the NBA. 

It was those sessions that helped improve Skillings’ mental ability on the court.

“Working in the gym 24/7 and just going against top players, NBA players and college players in the summer and things, working on my strength, and just learning the game mostly,” he said. “I learned the game a lot, and being able to get stops on defensive ends, [I] can turn that into great offense.

“Just learning how to play the game helps you a lot. Skill, raw skill, comes with my game, and offense comes with my game, but just defense turns everything around, and learning the game and knowing what to do is really a big part of it.”

In addition to his mental improvements, Skillings’ physical game has developed as well. One of the main areas of improvement that Skillings and his head coach Chris McNesby have seen is his defense, though that’s not all he’s worked on.

“My defense got a million times better, and I can guard ‘1’ through ‘5’,” Skillings said. “And my balance and just my core and just my strength all as a full unit has gotten better. My shot has gotten a lot better.”

Skillings transferred to Roman to play under then-head coach Matt Griffin, but after Griffin took an assistant coaching job at Albany, McNesby — who guided Roman to PCL and state championships in 2015 and 2016 — was hired to run the show. Although he has only been around Skillings full time for a short period, he has certainly come to see Skillings’ ability to learn and grow.

“One thing, he’s coachable,” McNesby said. “And I think anytime you have kids that are coachable, that want to be good, they’re always going to get better. He loves the game and he wants to improve and he’s willing to listen and that’s always a key part of that ingredient of getting better.”

The win on Monday was the Cahillites (14-3, 10-1 PCL) eighth in a row, and with a win over Archbishop Ryan — current fifth seed in the PCL — earlier in the season, it seems as though Roman has clinched a top-four spot, unable to do any worse than a tie for fourth. Doing so gives the Cahillites a first-round bye and a home playoff game in the quarterfinals.

La Salle, who was led by a game-high 20 points from Sam Brown, entered the contest coming off an upset win over previously undefeated Archbishop Wood. But following the loss, the Explorers dropped to 13-6 overall and 6-4 in league play.

It looks as though La Salle has wrapped up a playoff spot, but a top-six spot, securing a first-round bye, is still up for grabs. With games against Bonner-Prendie (4-6 PCL), Archbishop Carroll (4-7) and Ryan (8-3) still to come, the Explorers sit at sixth in the league as of now, tied with Devon Prep, although they have the tiebreaker thanks to a 69-65 overtime victory over the Tide.

Skillings will enter the playoffs looking to make it to the Palestra for the first time in his life. Although Roman advanced to the PCL championship game a season ago where it lost to Wood, the contest was played at Cardinal O’Hara due to the pandemic.

With a first-round bye in hand, all it will take is one victory for Roman to head to the Cathedral of College Basketball. But they are looking for more than just to make it there.

“We want to win a PCL championship,” Skillings said. “I’ve never played in (the Palestra) before. It would be great to play in there, in that environment.”

~~~

By Quarter
La Salle:   10 | 12 | 15 | 15 || 52
Roman:    15  | 15 | 19 | 14 || 63

Scoring
La Salle: Sam Brown 20, Horace Simmons 11, Nix Varano 10, Chris Williams 6, Joe Shields 3, Tim Jennings 2

Roman: Daniel Skillings 19, Khalil Farmer 15, Xzayvier Brown 11, Toby Ojukwu 8, Shareef Jackson 6, Quadir Brown 4


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