Al Skinner was fired as BC men’s basketball coach in 2010. He’s still looking for an explanation.

With the recent hiring of Luke Murray, Boston College has had five men’s basketball coaches since the departure of all-time wins leader Al Skinner. The Eagles haven’t reached an NCAA Tournament in 17 years, Skinner’s penultimate season.

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Skinner racked up 247 victories in his 13 years at The Heights, yet he is not in the school’s Hall of Fame. And he has no interest in accepting any recognition from BC until he receives an explanation of why he was fired in 2010, despite leading the Eagles to seven NCAA Tournaments in a nine-year stretch.

Skinner is 73 now and had just one head coaching job, at lower-major Kennesaw State, after his abrupt departure from Boston College. He remains angry and confused about his removal, and neither Skinner nor BC basketball has been the same since.

The Eagles have had only three winning records in the past 16 years and none of the four coaches who succeeded Skinner finished with a winning mark ― the best being the just-fired Earl Grant at 72-92.

The decision by then-athletic director Gene DeFilippo to fire Skinner, the school’s first Black coach, is considered questionable at best and a major mistake at worst, one that led to the decline of a once-proud basketball program.

Former BC AD Martin Jarmond attempted to mend the severed relationship by offering him induction into the school’s Hall of Fame. Skinner tersely declined.

“I’m not interested in that because, like I said, I wasn’t offered any explanation for the change,” he told the Globe. “I know what I had to navigate while I was there and the way I was let go and some of the things that were said that weren’t true about me.”

Skinner said he was not informed by DeFilippo that his job was in jeopardy, and he believes a Globe column on his firing written by Bob Ryan that called him “the least hard-working man in show business” soiled his reputation, and murmurs about his lack of recruiting and work ethic influenced DeFilippo.

“I said no, you’ve got Gene DeFilippo in there [a 2011 inductee],” Skinner said of the Hall of Fame. “I don’t need to be in there. I’ve had my share of accolades; I’m comfortable with that. Your accolades at BC don’t do anything for me. You can’t take away my record. I don’t need to rehash [the firing]. I guess if I was able to leave and go somewhere else and coach [I’d be fine], but to me that was prevented because of what was said.”

Skinner said the lazy narrative ruined his coaching reputation. He was not able to get a coaching interview at UMass, his alma mater. He reached out about a vacant Ivy League position and the athletic director said to Skinner, “I understand you don’t recruit.”

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Skinner was able to attract the likes of NBA draft picks Troy Bell, Jared Dudley, and Craig Smith during his tenure at BC. All three are in the school’s Hall of Fame. In his seven NCAA Tournament appearances, the Eagles reached the Sweet 16 only once and Skinner was often criticized for a flex offense considered antiquated as his tenure progressed.

But his success at BC was unprecedented and the Eagles have managed just two NIT appearances since his departure. A stretch of seven NCAA Tournament appearances in nine seasons for the just-hired Murray would likely be considered a rousing success. But for Skinner, it wasn’t good enough.

When reached by the Globe, DeFilippo said, “Al Skinner is a really good coach. He did a really good job at Boston College.”

Skinner blames DeFilippo for having lofty expectations for an athletic program that had reached an apex in the 2000s with successful men’s and women’s basketball teams, a yearly bowl-bound football team, and nationally ranked hockey squad.

“[DeFilippo] had only experienced success, I guess he just took it for granted,” Skinner said. “[Football coach] Tom O’Brien did a great job. Cathy [Inglese] did a great job [in women’s basketball]. Everybody was getting along. You’d really have to ask him why. He’s the only one who knows. Gene is the one who made all the decisions. He’s the one who allowed Tom O’Brien to get away. He’s the one who chased Cathy out of the gym. He’s the one who chased me away from BC.”

All three coaches left The Heights during DeFilippo’s tenure. Asked about Skinner’s Hall of Fame induction refusal, current AD Blake James said in a statement to the Globe: “Coach Skinner led Boston College men’s basketball to seven NCAA Tournaments and a conference championship. He will always have a special place in the history of BC basketball.”

Skinner said he understood being fired is part of the college basketball landscape but that there are countless fired coaches who are able to rebound for major college jobs and second chances. Skinner said he never received that opportunity.

“The question is why did you attack me the way you did and then allow the others [fired BC coaches] to walk away and keep their reputations intact?” he said. “I had one year where I was .500 [2010] and I have everyone coming back the next year. So now BC is supposed to go to the tournament and get to the Sweet 16 every year ― is that what you’re trying to tell me?

“What was written was so untrue. I’m comfortable with who I am and how I handle my business and I’m not going to allow someone to make me uncomfortable because I’m going to speak up. Maybe some people didn’t like that.”

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