Matt Skillman comes to Barton County from Garden City Community College, where he served under Coach Jeremy Cox the past two seasons.

During that time, Garden City posted a 56-17 mark, finishing 2nd in the Jayhawk West two years ago.

Skillman has spent most of his time in the midwest, but did spend one year in Florida.Prior to heading to Garden City, Skillman was an assistant coach for Palm Beach Atlantic University, an NAIA Division II school in West Palm Beach, Florida. Palm Beach Atlantic won the Florida Sun Conference that season with a 27-5 mark.

Skillman spent three years at Iowa State University in the late ‘90’s, serving under Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy. Skillman’s first year at ISU was the 1997-98 season, which saw the Cyclones go 10-18 in Coach Floyd's final season. The following year under Eustachy, the Cyclones improved to 14-14 before breaking out the following year, just missing the Final Four. Marcus Fizer was the focal point of that club. He was eventually the No. 4 pick in the NBA draft as well as a 1st team All-American and the Big XII Player of the Year.

Skillman’s first coach duties were as a student assistant at the College of the Ozarks. He spent four years as a student assistant at the school he graduated from.

During that time at the Point Lookout, Mo. school, College of the Ozarks won 96 games, going to the NAIA Division II National Tournament in Nampa, Idaho three times. The highest finish was 8th place — an accomplishment achieved twice.Skillman earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of the Ozarks and is a graduate of Bowling Green High School in Missouri.