Pratt returns to the Laurel private school after serving as an assistant boys' basketball coach under Mike Glick from from 1993-98. Pratt also was on Glick's staff from 1998-2004 at Archbishop Spalding. Glick is now the boys' coach at Gwynn Park.

Pratt spent the 2004-05 season as the head coach at St. Mary's-Annapolis and then moved on to Towson Catholic, where he compiled a 98-41 record in four seasons as head coach. His career coaching record is 107-57.

The Pallotti job will be his first time coaching a girls' team.

"It will be a challenge," said Pratt. "Girls have a different attitude, but coaching is coaching. It's a good challenge for me, it really is."

Skelly won more than 100 games at Pallotti, and guided the Panthers to Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championships in 2006 and 2007. Pallotti was 11-12 last season and reached the conference semifinals.

Outgoing Towson Catholic coach Josh Pratt said he learned in February that he was being laid off from his position as a physical education and health teacher at the school.

He said he wanted to coach and teach at the same place and has accepted a job as girls basketball coach at St. Vincent Pallotti.

Towson Catholic was 17-13 last season, finishing third in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and fourth in the Baltimore Catholic League.

Pratt, who was an assistant at Pallotti, Archbishop Spalding and St. Mary's before taking over at Towson Catholic for longtime coach Mike Daniel in 2005, went 98-40 (.710) in four seasons with the Owls. He guided them to two MIAA A Conference titles and one Baltimore Catholic League crown. Pratt's teams were ranked in the top 10 in The Baltimore Sun's final poll in each of his first three seasons, including a No. 1 ranking in 2007.