Wake Forest men’s basketball coach Skip Prosser died this morning in Winston-Salem of an apparent heart attack after jogging. Prosser coached the Deacons for seven seasons. In 2003, Wake Forest won the ACC regular season and Prosser received Coach of the Year honors.
Prosser enjoyed early success in Winston-Salem, taking the Deacons to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons. His teams had struggled a recent years but after signing a couple of big name recruits, things were looking up for the Deacs and Prosser for the future.
For more information on this story, click here to read Jeff Goodman’s story from Fox Sports.
I am stunned and quite saddened by this shocking news. Skip Prosser was an excellent basketball coach, but an even better man.
The first thought that came into my mind was when I was the station producer at WYSR 1590 and Skip called us wanting to come on during the offseason to promote the ‘Fur Ball’ that he and his wife did each year for the humane society.
This is the type of man he was, always personable and caring of others. He will truly be missed.
Paul T. Lambeth II
Host: The Classic Corner
Sundays 10a-2pm
Streaming live at http://www.wsge.org
Hard to imagine this guy’s gone. I would have cast my vote for Gary Williams if having to choose the most likely ACC coach to have heart failure.
I don’t think there was anyone out there who didn’t like Prosser. I felt bad for him the last couple of years and the lack of success the Deacs had.
This is certainly awful for all ACC fans especially those in Winston-Salem. In the coming days, it will be interesting to see how Wake handles the search for a new coach. I would think that it will be hard to find someone of Prosser’s talents this close to the new school year starting. As I mentioned above, Wake is bringing in some pretty good talent so this is really a crossroads for this program. Would it be smart to hire an assistant to serve as interim coach this season and then search for a coach in the spring of ’08 when there are plenty more solid choices? It might also give the Wake community more time to come to grips with this tragedy.
I have heard from more than one person that Skip Prosser was a bit cocky and that he was arrogant. I saw him once at the Greensboro Coliseum down by the tunnel and he did not make a good first impression on me and I have never had a bad thing to say about anyone. Was Skip the everyman when the lights and cameras were on, and then totally different when the media wasn’t looking? I’m kinda sorta like the media and looked at me like I was the janitor. He must have thought I was just another bum in off the street hanging out around the Coliseum garage. I was at the Coliseum to cover a high school basketball game for the web site and probably knew just as much about the local HS basketball as he did. He sure didn’t know my man Kevin Swinton. The new coach at WAKE, that’s what I’ve been thinking about since yesterday at about 3:30. Dino Gaudio was one of Prosser’s top assistants and his name has been mentioned already. If I was still coaching and not writing I would probably take a close look at this job.
I wonder, what do others of you have to say about Skip Prosser?
I saw him about a month ago at a basketball event for high school teams at Wake Forest. He was anything but arrogant. The first time I saw him, he was running on the track and smiled as he went by. Later that afternoon, as he picked up trash in the gym that others had left….he was smiling and talking to the common folks and young athletes. There was definitely no media around and he appeared as genuine as pleasant as they come.
Prayers are certainly being said for The Prosser family and the Wake Forest Community.
OK, Ive had it with Greensboro Sports! This site has stooped to a new low, attacking the character of a man who is not alive to defend his character. Andy, you attack Prosser because he would not give you the time of day. Do you believe you have such a high profile status in this town that people should get down on their hands and knees when you walk by? Maybe Coach Prosser was actually thinking about why he there to begin with – to watch the young men on the court. I will no longer be visiting this site and plan to discourage others in the Deacon Family from coming here either. Andy and Don, you should be ashamed of yourselves! This is kind of classless behavior I would expect from Wolfpack fans.
I’m just giving my honest opinion. I don’t have to talk like everybody else. If Skip Prosser needs defense let the people defend him. I’d like to hear from somebody that REALLY knew him. I like to take the good and the bad and I would hope that everyone would feel free to tell us what they are really thinking.