Daemen University Athletics

Longtime bench boss David Skolen returns for his 24th season at the helm for the Daemen College women's basketball team in 2015-16.  Skolen has led the program since its infancy and helped usher in a new era to its storied history by joining the East Coast Conference of NCAA Division II in 2013-14.   Since taking over in the early 1990's, Skolen has transformed the women's basketball program into a regional and national powerhouse.  In that time, Skolen owns a 458-251 overall record, giving him the highest winning percentage (.646) of any coach in the history of Daemen College Athletics. After going just 31-50 from 1992-95, Skolen has guided the Wildcats to 17 winning seasons in the last 20 years and 15 seasons of 20 or more wins, including 11 straight from 2002-13.

In the 2014-15 season, Skolen led his team to marked improvement in its second year playing a full NCAA Division II schedule.  Skolen's Wildcats nearly doubled its overall win total from the previous season while also upping their conference win total from five to eight.  With Daemen's teams not yet elligible for ECC and/or NCAA Division II postseason, Skolen took his team to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division I National Championships in Uniontown, Pa. for the second time in three years.  While there, the fifth-seeded Wildcats knocked off No. 4 The Apprentice School (82-72), No. 1 Concordia College (Ala.) (63-57) and No. 3 Berea College (Ky.) (78-75) to earn the program's second USCAA national title.

The first came during the 2012-13 season which was one for the ages as Skolen led his team to a 26-7 record.  The Wildcats, who entered the eight-team USCAA tournament as the top seed after being ranked atop the USCAA national poll for 10 consecutive weeks, knocked off third-seeded Lindenwood University-Belleville 73-62 in the final to earn the program's first-ever national title.

The national title in 2013 came on the heels of back-to-back trips to the NAIA Division II National Tournament, something Skolen's teams accomplished nine total times during the College's long-standing affiliation with the NAIA.

Skolen's 2010-11 squad enjoyed one of the program's finest seasons as they finished at 25-8 after advancing to the Sweet 16 at the NAIA Division II National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa. Despite falling to longtime rival Walsh University in the American Mideast Conference (AMC) Championship Game, Skolen's Wildcats received an automatic bid to the tournament and capitalized with the program's first-ever win at the event, defeating Concordia University (Mich.) 83-70 on March 10.

During his tenure, the Wildcats have won four AMC North titles (2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07 & 2007-08) as well as two Keystone Empire Collegiate Conference (KECC) championships (1995-96, 1996-97). Skolen has been honored with Conference Coach of the Year recognition six times (1995-96, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08) and was also recognized with the honor by the Independents Collegiate Athletic Association (ICAA) in 2012-13. 

Success at the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium has long been a trait of Skolen's teams.  From 2002-13, the Wildcats won 128 of their 140 home games in that span.

In addition to his long list accomplishments, Skolen has coached 31 players who have received some type of All-Conference recognition and has had a First Team All-Conference honoree in 17 of his 23 seasons. That list includes five who have been named Conference Player of the Year - Larissa Smith (1995-96), Amy King (1998-99), Germany Jackson

 (2006-07), Sarah Bogardus (2007-08) & Sarah Soroka (2010-11). Skolen has also coached eleven athletes who've earned All-American honors including first-teamers Allison Depp (2005-06), Soroka (2010-11), Chelsea Andorka (2012-13) and Monica Kosior (2012-13).  His team's have also featured seven NAIA All-America Scholar-Athletes and three USCAA National All-Academic Team recipients.

Before taking over as the women's coach at Daemen, Skolen served as an assistant for the men's team, a position he held for two seasons. In that time, Skolen helped the team to a 26-35 record while going 12-10 in conference play.

As a player, Skolen starred for Daemen from 1986-90. When his playing career ended, he was the school record holder for career points (1,876), assists (293), three-point field goals (279), and games played (114), as well as points in a season (699) and points per game in a season (21.8). Even today, some 23 years since his playing career ended, Skolen still holds four school records - field goals made in a career (687), career three-point percentage (.487), career free throw percentage (.826) and single season three-point percentage (.557).

Skolen holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mathematics from Daemen. He also owns a Masters Degree in Math Education from the University of Buffalo and is a graduate of St. Francis High School. In addition to his coaching duties, Skolen has served the Daemen community in different capacities, first as an academic advisor and later as Sports Information Director from 2000-2011.